Marriage and Housing (CG). (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — A growing number of South Korean newlyweds are delaying official marriage registration to avoid financial penalties tied to the country’s housing and loan system, a trend that Japanese media say reflects shifting social norms amid an unrelenting real estate crisis.
Japan’s Nikkei reported on Nov. 16 that roughly 20 percent of South Korean newlywed couples in 2024 postponed filing their marriage registration for more than a year — a phenomenon widely described as “wi-jang mihon,” or “pretend unmarried.”
The paper noted that East Asian societies have traditionally placed high value on marriage, but surging property prices and changing attitudes among younger generations are reshaping expectations.
Under Korea’s current system, married couples lose access to various benefits available to single individuals. For example, an unmarried person earning up to 60 million won qualifies for certain state-backed financial products, while couples face a stricter combined-income ceiling of 85 million won.
Housing loans are also assessed on joint income, often reducing eligibility for newlyweds who are eager to buy their first home.
The consequences are stark. With Seoul’s average apartment price exceeding 1.4 billion won — an all-time high — the Nikkei reported that a household earning the national average income would need to save for 15 years without spending a single won to afford a home.
A view of apartment buildings in downtown Seoul as seen from Namsan. (Yonhap)
As a result, an increasing number of couples hold wedding ceremonies but avoid registering their marriage, a decision that experts warn is contributing to the country’s steep decline in births.
Rep. Jeong Il-young of the Democratic Party (the ruling party since the end of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration) criticized the system, saying “marriage should not be a disadvantage.”
Japanese media also compared the trend to China’s so-called “fake divorces,” which became common during that country’s housing boom as couples sought to circumvent home-buying restrictions. At one point, Chinese regulators even imposed cooling-off periods on newly divorced individuals to curb abuse of the system.
The Nikkei noted that related demographic shifts are emerging in South Korea as well. Out-of-wedlock births surpassed 5 percent of all births for the first time last year, reaching 14,000 — a milestone analysts say is also linked to the rise in unregistered marriages.
Both South Korea and Japan face severe population decline, but the patterns differ. In Korea, many couples marry but stop after having one child, pushing the fertility rate to record lows. In Japan, by contrast, a large share of adults do not marry at all.
The lifetime childlessness rate among Japanese women stands at 28.3 percent, the highest in the OECD, while Korea’s is 12.9 percent — roughly half Japan’s rate.
As the real estate market remains out of reach for many young families, policymakers in Seoul face mounting pressure to untangle housing policy from marriage and childbearing — a link that has grown only more consequential as the country’s demographic crisis deepens.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
