Korean Divorce Rate on the Rise

In an article in Korea Times, columnist and historian Andrei Landov made some interesting observations on divorce in Korea. The scholar notes that until very recently, divorce was almost unthinkable in Korea at least as long as middle-class households (that is, some 70 percent of all households) were concerned. In 1990, Korea still boasted one of the lowest divorce rates among developed countries, 1.1 divorces per 1,000 people, or about one third of the U.S. rate.

Landov points out that in pre-modern Korea, divorce, although theoretically possible, was condemned by the public and discouraged by law. Divorced women would be rejected by society, and needless to say, would have virtually no chance of remarriage. A woman had to be faithful to her husband unconditionally. In old Korea, even widows were strongly discouraged from re-marrying and if they did so, their children were discriminated against in law.

The 20th century changed the letter of the law, but not the general social assumptions behind it. Until the early 1990s, Koreans were very hostile towards divorce.

As recent as 10 or 15 years ago, divorce was a personal disaster of an unimaginable scale. A divorced woman would be ostracized by society. Most likely, she would also lose custody of her children and perhaps even be deprived of any opportunity to see them at all. Her chances of making an independent living were limited. Jobs available for older women were few and far between, and most employers would be very reluctant to hire a divorcee.

A divorced man hardly fared much better. Unlike his wife, he had some chances of re-marrying, but these chances were quite slim.

As a rule, the higher somebody was on the social ladder, the greater the career damage inflicted by divorce. This was applicable even to movie stars and rock singers, who in other countries might feel ashamed if they did not change spouses every third year or so. For some prominent public figures, divorce amounted to a career suicide.

Thus, many couples that in more liberal societies would happily break up still had to maintain appearances. For all practical purposes their relations were non-existent, but they still appeared in public together and maintained some outward fiction of the family for the sake of comfort, a career, and a stable social life.

All this changed within a decade or less. The divorce rate suddenly began to climb up: from 1.1 per 1000 in 1990 to 2.0 in 1997. The currency crisis of 1997 further accelerated the tempo of change, and by 2001 the divorce rate reached 2.8 per 1000. In this regard, Korea now ranks sixth worldwide. In the 1970s, the divorce rate was 0.4, having increased seven-fold in three decades.

Landov concludes by citing that there are manifold and interwoven reasons behind these changes. One must cite the collapse of traditional patriarchic values, rise of a new generation of college-educated women, the growth of employment opportunities for female workers and their ensuing economic independence, and the powerful influence of Western individualism and feminism.