Marrying Koreans need more than love
Source: Agencies |
April 28, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Beatles may have sung "All You Need is Love," but in South Korea an average couple wanting to get married also needs cash, a lot of it - nearly US$200,000, or more than four times the nation's average annual income.
The sky-high costs stem from a combination of cultural traditions that mandate expensive pre-wedding gifts between families, such as mink coats and diamond rings, along with a custom that the groom must fork over money to provide a home.
The average cost for a wedding last year rose about 270 percent from 1999, while inflation during the same period was 45 percent. Total costs far outstripped the average annual household income at around 48.3 million Korean won (US$42,400), according to government data.
Thus, young couples seeking to unite in wedded bliss are compelled to borrow from parents or take out loans. With candid discussions of money a cultural taboo in Korea, many are reluctant to speak about the high cost of exchanging vows.
"Korean society is very tightly knit, and people here are very concerned about how others view them," said Harris Kim, a sociology professor at Ewha Womans University.
One 27-year-old woman working in the financial industry, who like many others asked to remain anonymous, said her parents paid nearly 90 percent of her 140 million won wedding costs.
"We had to use our parents' money, which probably came from the sacrifice of their own retirement savings," she said.
The biggest wedding expense is the soaring cost of housing. The money spent by happy couples for a home last year was 2.5 times higher than in 2000, making up nearly 70 percent of the total cost of a wedding.
The sky-high costs stem from a combination of cultural traditions that mandate expensive pre-wedding gifts between families, such as mink coats and diamond rings, along with a custom that the groom must fork over money to provide a home.
The average cost for a wedding last year rose about 270 percent from 1999, while inflation during the same period was 45 percent. Total costs far outstripped the average annual household income at around 48.3 million Korean won (US$42,400), according to government data.
Thus, young couples seeking to unite in wedded bliss are compelled to borrow from parents or take out loans. With candid discussions of money a cultural taboo in Korea, many are reluctant to speak about the high cost of exchanging vows.
"Korean society is very tightly knit, and people here are very concerned about how others view them," said Harris Kim, a sociology professor at Ewha Womans University.
One 27-year-old woman working in the financial industry, who like many others asked to remain anonymous, said her parents paid nearly 90 percent of her 140 million won wedding costs.
"We had to use our parents' money, which probably came from the sacrifice of their own retirement savings," she said.
The biggest wedding expense is the soaring cost of housing. The money spent by happy couples for a home last year was 2.5 times higher than in 2000, making up nearly 70 percent of the total cost of a wedding.
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