Divorce Advice Mostly Sought by Wives in 7-Year Marriage

The average couple seeking legal advice for divorce has been married for less than seven years and is composed of a housewife who is a high school graduate and a husband who is an office worker.

According to statistics released by the Korea Legal Aid Center for Family Relations (KLACFR), out of the 8,954 people who sought family counseling last year, 59 percent or 5,282 of them wanted legal aid for divorce. Of them, 85.5 percent of them were women and 14.5 percent were men.

Most of the people seeking divorce were between 30-39. Specifically, 40.9 percent of the women were in their 30s, 29.78 percent in their 40s and 15.2 percent were in their 50s. Meanwhile, 42.5 percent of men were in their 30s, 30.2 percent in their 40s and 15 percent in their 50s.

KLACFR noted that divorce among senior citizens is a growing social phenomenon. The number of those over the age of 60 who sought counseling has been growing steadily over the years from 2.6 percent in 1996 to 2.7 percent in 1997 and 3 percent in 1998.

Grounds for divorce for women in their 60s and 70s tends to be spousal infidelity, while younger women typically seek divorces to escape from abusive husbands.

Most divorce-seekers, 30.8 percent, were married less than seven years. Specifically, 12.9 percent were married 1-3 years, 9.8 percent were married 3-5 years, and 8.1 percent were married 5-7 years.

By educational level, 35.5 percent of those seeking divorces were high school graduates and 26.3 percent had college degrees. Some 37.8 percent f the spouses of those seeking divorce were high school graduates while 23.8 percent were college graduates.

In terms of employment, 36.7 percent of the women who wanted a divorce were housewives while 24.1 percent of the husbands seeking a divorce were office workers. Most of the spouses of those wanting a divorce, 22.74 percent, were unemployed.

The majority of women, 39.6 percent, indicated ``other reasons the marriage cannot continue'' as the motivation for divorce under Article 840 of the divorce law. ``Other reasons'' include marital discord, economic or health reasons and family discord.

Other grounds for divorce for women included spousal abuse at 33.6 percent and spousal infidelity at 20.4 percent.

Some 49.8 percent of men filed for divorce for the same reason under Article 840, followed by 21.7 percent citing abandonment and 15.8 percent blaming infidelity.

The most often cited reason for divorce under ``other reasons the marriage cannot continue'' was marital discord, with 62.8 percent of women and 66.2 percent of men pointing to this factor, followed by economic reasons (27.4 percent of women, 24.4 percent of men), health reasons (5 percent of women, 6.8 percent of men), and familial discord (4.8 percent of women, 2.6 percent of men).

The major reason cited for marital discord by both men and women was personality differences. Women also pointed to alcoholism, dishonesty, irresponsibility, sexual problems, and irrational suspicions of adultery on the part of their husband as causes of marital discord. Men cited long-term separation from their spouse, lifestyle differences, dishonesty, long-term separation, irresponsibility, and the fact their wives did not trust them.

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Reference: Korea Times