In South Korea, a growing number of couples are choosing to delay their official marriage registration, prioritizing economic benefits over legal formalities. Lee Jae-yeon, a 39-year-old Seoul resident, exemplifies this trend.

Lee and her partner celebrated their love with a grand wedding ceremony in 2019, inviting hundreds of guests to share in their joy. Three years later, they welcomed a baby girl into their lives. To the world, they are a family of three, but on paper, Lee remains single.

“Marriage registration is a mere formality,” Lee told Korea Pro. “Nothing should stand in the way of having a higher chance for better housing. People know we are married and recognize us as our daughter’s parents, and that is enough.”

Lee’s decision to remain officially single allows her to maintain eligibility for a housing subscription available to first-time property buyers. If she were to legally marry her partner, who already owns an apartment, they would be assessed jointly as a married couple, disqualifying her from this benefit.

The housing subscription system in South Korea aims to help first-time homebuyers and low-income families acquire affordable housing through a lottery. It prioritizes applicants based on family size, income and homeownership status, enabling them to purchase newly constructed apartments at below-market rates.

With fierce competition among aspiring homeowners for a limited number of units, Lee sees the housing subscription as a crucial investment opportunity, especially since properties obtained through this scheme are often significantly cheaper than market prices.

Statistics Korea reported a significant rise in the percentage of delayed marriage registrations. In the 2010s, the rate of marriage reports postponed by two years or more exceeded 5%. This figure surged to 7.06% in 2021 and further increased to 8.15% in 2023.

Jung Chan-soo, a 36-year-old man, also remains officially single on paper. He has delayed registering his marriage for seven years, waiting for the optimal time to apply for a housing subscription. Jung plans to apply for specially allocated units for newlyweds, which only allow applications within seven years of official marriage.

In the meantime, Jung focuses on saving money to apply for an apartment in Seoul and having a child, which would boost his position on the housing subscription list. Only then will he sell his studio apartment in Gyeonggi Province, where he currently resides, to qualify for the housing lottery.

Holding onto the apartment also serves as a strategic move as its value continues to increase.

“Our top priority was to improve our quality of life after marriage,” Jung said. “My partner and I agreed that official registration is unnecessary. We wanted the best chance at securing housing benefits.”

An apartment complex in Seoul, Aug. 2014 | Image: Republic of Korea via Flickr

MARITAL UNCERTAINTY

For many couples in South Korea, a “grace period” before officially confirming their marriage has become necessary, extending beyond housing considerations. The volatility of early marriages is evident in the statistics, which show that until 2020, one in five couples divorced within four years of marriage.

South Korea’s divorce rate stood at 1.8 per 1,000 people in 2023, higher than the OECD average and those of countries like Japan (1.6) and the U.K. (1.7). Despite this relatively high rate and a shift in social perceptions making divorce less taboo, many couples still prefer to avoid the complications of an official record.

Exposure to media discussing divorce has gradually changed attitudes, but the reluctance to leave a formal trace persists as a preemptive measure.

Seol Dong-hoon, a sociology professor at Chonbuk National University, suggests that people tend to “err on the side of caution in case a divorce occurs,” avoiding the official record as a pragmatic approach.

Park Hye-seon, a 37-year-old who separated from her long-term partner in 2023 after two years of living together as a couple, took such a cautionary approach.

Although the former couple held a public wedding ceremony, they never officially registered their marriage. Now, when Park goes on dates, she does not disclose her previous long-term relationship or the public ceremony they held.

Park recalls that she and her then-partner tacitly agreed not to proceed with marriage registration to test their compatibility, especially as she observed more divorced couples around her.

“In hindsight, it was the right decision,” Park told Korea Pro. “Separation was simple as nothing on paper was in the way.”

These socio-economic hurdles lead married couples in South Korea to wait several months before officially reporting their marriages, a trend reflected in statistical data.

The percentage of marriage reports delayed by a year or less remains high at around 80%, but this figure has declined from 89.11% in 2014 to 84.69% in 2022, reflecting an increasing tendency to delay registration for more extended periods.

A married couple getting divorced | Image: Canva

INCENTIVIZING MARRIAGE

The South Korean government has recognized the issue of couples not formalizing their marriages, especially as the country records the lowest birth rate among OECD countries at 0.78. In response, the Yoon administration has introduced a series of policies to incentivize marriage.

In March, the government increased the joint income limit for married couples applying for public housing units through the subscription system from 140% of an individual’s monthly average salary to 200%, effectively removing a substantial hurdle for many applicants.

Further, the policy now allows both spouses to apply separately for specially secured housing units for newlyweds, increasing a household’s chances of securing a home.

The government also announced a special tax cut for married couples in June. Under the plan, those who marry and own two housing units will be treated as single-property owners for 10 years.

Seo Jin-hyung, a real estate law professor at Kwangwoon University and president of the Korea Real Estate Management Academy, supports expanding housing benefit policies as the right approach to encourage young people to register their marriages and start families.

“Millennials, often called the ‘concrete generation,’ were born and raised in average 100-square-meter apartments and strongly prefer newly built apartments,” Seo told Korea Pro.

“As many wish to maintain the comforts that they have grown accustomed to, they treat the acquisition of such accommodation as a prerequisite for marriage.”

However, Seo expressed skepticism about the efficacy of these policies, warning that expanding the pool of beneficiaries without increasing the number of available housing units could exacerbate competition for limited homes.

While it remains to be seen, these new measures appear to be starting to change the negative perception of marriage registration. Choi Min-jin, a 40-year-old whose marriage has remained unregistered for over a year, said she might soon opt for registration.

“It’s a deeply rooted belief among many people that registering their marriages imposes a financial penalty upon them. It’s why many people, myself included, have hesitated to do so,” Choi said.

“But with the new support policies, I’m starting to see the value in making our marriage official.”

Edited by John Lee