A new survey finds that young adults in South Korea view the education system they experienced more negatively than their peers in other countries.

Results were disclosed on Thursday of the survey, conducted last August on some two-thousand-800 people in their 20s in five countries including South Korea, the U.S., Germany, Japan and Denmark.

The figures showed that 49-point-six percent of South Korean respondents said they don't want their children to have the same education experience that they had, higher than the percentage of respondents that shared the same view in the other four countries.

The survey also found that South Koreans felt extreme stress over their studies due to excessive competition and failed to make use of their studies to discover their interests and aptitude.

More than 42 percent of South Korean respondents said they believe respect is contingent on academic performance.

South Koreans considered high school a way to get into a good university, while most U.S. respondents said it is the path to discover what they like and are interested in. Most Danish respondents cited the acquisition of knowledge for real life as the significance of a high school education.

Professor Kim Hee-sam of Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, who put together the survey, said the results show that young South Koreans have high expectations about their studies and academic background but lack high self-esteem. Kim said such aspects are the byproduct of an intensely competitive education.

Educational public broadcaster EBS commissioned multinational market research firm Ipsos Group to carry out the poll.