Couples Who Have Been Married For Over 20 Years Are More Likely To Divorce Than Those Married For Less Than 5 Years, According To Court Of Korea

Statistics gathered by a Court of Korea revealed that South Korean couples who been married for more than 20 years are more likely to get divorce as compared to those who have tied the knot in less than five years.

Korea Times reported Nov. 4 that the number of divorced couples after being married for at least two decades has skyrocketed last year in South Korea. According to statistics, 28.7 percent of the divorces in the county are linked to married couples for at least 20 years.

The rate is equivalent to 33,140 couples out of 115,510 pairs in 2014. The latest figure is 23.8 percent higher from the figure recorded in 2010.

In addition, the statistics also revealed that divorce percentage among couples who do not have a child or children has surpassed 50 percent last year for the first time.

Meanwhile, divorce rate among couples who have been married for less than five years has fallen to 23.5 percent last year as compared to 27 percent in 2010.

The recent report have revealed that married couples in South Korea seek out divorce for a number of reasons, such as personality differences (45.8 percent), financial difficulties (11.6), family dispute (7.1 percent) and mental or physical abuse (4 percent).

Further reports have revealed that the latest statistics attributed to the decrease in marriages in South Korea for the past three years. Korea Observer reported Apr. 23 that the number of South Koreans getting married fell for three consecutive years in 2014.

Data by the Statistics Korea revealed that 305,507 marriages were recorded last year, which shows a 5.4 percent decline from previous year's record.

"The drop stemmed from fewer people in the marriageable age group along with a steady drop in Koreans marrying foreigners," Statistics Korea director Yoon Yean Ok said.

The report also revealed that divorce rate increased by 0.2 percent in the country last year. A total of 115,510 people sought divorce in 2014.