TV Soaps Reflect Changing Trends in Marriage and Divorce

Published on 2011/08/30 | Source

Following the previous trend of bucking convention by marrying older women, Korean men are now increasingly being portrayed on TV dramas tying the knot with divorcees, reflecting a growing social trend.

According to figures released by Statistics Korea in April, 9.5 couples out of every 1,000 divorced last year. In total, 116,900 marriages were annulled in 2010, with the average age for men at the time of divorce standing at 45, compared to 41.1 for women.

As the country's divorce rate continues to surge, TV dramas are reflecting these changes in the real world. The latest trend is to dramatize love affairs between men who have never married and women who have loved and lost.

"Many producers and scriptwriters seek to boost viewers' rating by depicting the romantic ideal of women in their 30s and 40s -- who form the main demographic of viewers of these kind of shows", said an official at one of the nation's leading broadcasters.

"It seems that this new form of marriage is becoming quite accepted in TV dramas as divorce is no longer considered unusual".