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By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
With nuclear-family households growing year after year, the divorce pattern has been undergoing a major change, and differences in character emerged as the top reason for it.
According to Statistics Korea Friday, a total of 123,999 couples cut their ties last year and personality issues were given as the most popular cause for their split, accounting for 46.6 percent (57,801 cases).
Financial issues ranked second with 17,871 (14.4 percent), followed by cheating spouses (8.3 percent), domestic trouble (7.4 percent) and physical and mental abuse (5.0 percent).
Health problems were rarely cited, with just six thousandths of those separating quoting this as a reason.
The outcome is in stark contrast to the report in 2000, which showed that family trouble was the main cause of the divorce.
Over the past decade, the number of domestic problems causing divorces has reduced, while personality differences and financial problems have become major factors of late.
The ratio of family issues dropped by 14.2 percentage points to 7.4 percent in 2009 from 2000, while personality differences have jumped 6.4 percentage points and financial troubles have risen by 3.7 percentage points over the past nine years.
Divorces due to ill-treatment and adultery have increased slightly by 1,041 and 622, respectively, up 0.6 and 0.2 percent. Parting ways for health reasons moved down from 0.9 to 0.6.
Statistics Korea analyzed the fact that the nuclear family is returning and aspirations for quality of life are increasing. This has had an effect on the change in reasons for divorce, and another is the rising economic stature of women.
``In the past, family discord was likely because couples lived with the husbands' parents, but nowadays, this possibility has lessened thanks to a smaller family unit,'' said an official of Statistics Korea.
Meanwhile, the number of elderly couples who filed for divorce made headlines by jumping over 74 percent in the past five years.
Statistics from Statistics Korea indicated Thursday that 4,093 couples aged over 60 split in 2009, a drastic rise from 1,774 in 2004 and 2,949 in 1999.
The number of divorce filings by couples in their seventies was particularly eye-catching.
Compared to the previous year, the number of divorces of those under 69 was down a little in 2009 - 3,562 from 3,681 - but that of people in their seventies broke 500 for the first time, rising to 531, up 11.32 percent.
Among those between 70 and 74, 409 couples divorced; as did 122 aged over 75.
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