‘Twilight divorces’ in South Korea soar as older women go it alone
Court rulings have made it more financially viable for wives to leave their husbands
Twilight divorces after 20 years of marriage are at a record in South Korea as the stigma of divorce wears off in a conservative society and court rulings make it financially viable for older women to go it alone.
For 54-year-old Kim Nan-young, who felt trapped in a loveless marriage for two decades, divorce was better late than never.
“I’d put up with my husband’s patriarchal and overbearing behaviour for so many years, because I was reluctant to divorce when my children were small,” said Kim, a mother of two sons who split up two years ago from her husband of 25 years.
“Now I only have myself to take care of, which makes it easier to find work. There are a lot of things women can do for a living,” said Kim, who has since started her own small laundry business.
Kim’s sons had given her the financial and emotional support she needed to make the break, but it also helped that courts have been ruling increasingly in favour of splitting up matrimonial assets more evenly on divorce.
As many as 33,140 couples split up last year following more than 20 years of marriage, the national statistics bureau said this month, accounting for more than a quarter of all divorces, and a surge of 31 per cent over the last decade.