Koreans are staying married — but not for love

Pictured is an illustration of a pencil eraser erasing a red heart. [GETTY IMAGES]

 
More married couples in Korea are staying together — but not necessarily out of love. Divorces fell to their lowest level in nearly three decades last year as many couples chose to remain married despite domestic conflicts, citing financial pressures, shifting social norms and the rising costs of separation.
 
Kwon, a 35-year-old office worker in their fifth year of marriage, came close to ending the relationship last year after repeated clashes with a spouse over personality differences. Kwon reconsidered, worried about their young child and unsure about being financially independent after a divorce.
 

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“If we split our assets in half, I wouldn’t be able to maintain our current living standard, starting with our home," Kwon said. It’s still difficult, but staying married feels like the better option, so I endure it.”
 
A total of 88,100 couples divorced in 2025, down 3.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. The figure marks the lowest level since 1997, during the Asian financial crisis, and extends a steady decline that began after divorces peaked at 110,800 in 2019.
 
The crude divorce rate — the number of divorces per 1,000 people — has also fallen, reaching 1.7 last year, the same level recorded in 1996.
 
The decline has been especially pronounced among couples in earlier stages of marriage. Divorces among those married between five and nine years dropped 7.2 percent from a year earlier, the steepest decrease among all groups. Divorces among couples married four years or less fell 5.6 percent over the same period.
 

 
Part of the explanation lies in demographics. Fewer people married between 2012 and 2022, reducing the number of couples at risk of divorce in subsequent years, particularly among those with shorter marriage durations.
 
Economic considerations have also weighed heavily on couples’ decisions.
 
Lee Sam-sik, a professor of policy studies at Hanyang University, said government policies that encourage marriage — many implemented to raise the country's birthrate, one of the world’s lowest — have increasingly made marriage financially advantageous.
 
“Compared to the past, married couples receive more benefits such as housing support,” Lee said. “At the same time, the costs associated with divorce — including child-rearing expenses, living costs and housing — are considerable, so many couples choose to stay together.”
 
Social attitudes toward marriage and family life have shifted as well. Hong Sok-chul, a professor of economics at Seoul National University, pointed to a growing emphasis on work-life balance and shared parenting.
 
“There is growing interest in balancing work and family life, and a culture is spreading in which couples cooperate to raise children,” he said.
 

A poster advertising JTBC's ″Divorce Camp″ (2024-), a reality show where married couples receive counseling to confront their marital issues [JTBC]

 
Some observers have suggested that the popularity of television programs centered on divorce has had an unintended effect. The Wall Street Journal reported last year that such shows with "rocky real-life relationships," specifically in Korea, may lead viewers to compare their own relationships with more troubled ones, leaving them relatively more satisfied.
 
Still, not all marriages are enduring longer. Divorces among couples married 30 years or more rose 3.3 percent to 15,600 cases. These accounted for 17.7 percent of all divorces, the largest share by marriage duration.
 
A decade ago, couples married four years or less made up the largest share.
 
Prof. Hong attributed the rise among older couples to generational change. “Older couples married under a more patriarchal system,” he said. “Now that they have raised their children, many want to live more freely.”
 

Visitors at a wedding fair at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, look at wedding dresses on July 6, 2025. [NEWS1]

 
At the same time, marriages have begun to rebound.
 
There were 240,000 marriages last year, an increase of 8.1 percent from the previous year and the highest level since 2019. After declining for more than a decade, the number of marriages has risen for three consecutive years since 2023.
 
Demographers point to the so-called echo boom generation — those born between 1991 and 1996 — entering their prime marrying years as a key driver of the increase.
 
The rise was most pronounced among people in their early 30s. Among those ages 30 to 34, marriages increased by 13.5 percent for men and 13.2 percent for women.
 
The average age at first marriage continued to climb, reaching 33.9 for men and 31.6 for women. The gap between spouses narrowed to 2.2 years, the smallest on record.
 
Changing social norms are also reshaping who marries whom. Among first marriages, the share of couples in which the woman is older reached 20.2 percent, surpassing 20 percent for the first time.


This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY NAM SOO-HYOUN [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]