The number of young North Koreans living together before marriage is on the rise, Daily NK has learned.
“The percentage of young people who live together before marriage seems to be gradually increasing. The phenomenon is in evidence in the majority of regions and is particularly noticeable in big cities such as Pyongsong,” a source in South Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Monday.
North Korean women have tended to prefer cohabitation for a few years now. After marriage, women’s economic burden is redoubled because of the need to support their husband, and divorces are not easy to get in North Korea. That has led more women to choose cohabitation, which is not legally binding.
While cohabitation used to begin in the late 20s, at the typical marrying age, it is now being observed at a much younger age, in the early 20s.
North Korean young people are choosing cohabitation because of the gradual liberalization of sexual culture in the country.
Unlike previous generations, younger North Koreans are dating more freely, and unplanned pregnancies are prompting an increasing number of young people to opt for cohabitation.
“It’s common for people to hide the fact that they’re cohabitating to avoid censure from others and attention from the authorities,” the source noted.
Out-of-wedlock pregnancy is not the only reason for cohabitation, however.
Some young people make that choice from the desire to experience life together before tying the knot. People driven by that motivation “don’t typically get pregnant first,” the source said.
“It’s rare for cohabitators to have children. Given the extreme difficulties caused by the food shortage since the outbreak of COVID-19, people can’t afford to feed children,” he added.
The North Korean government reportedly monitors and punishes cohabitation, which it regards as a “non-socialist phenomenon.”
“It’s not easy to hide [cohabitation] from law enforcement because the heads of neighborhood watch units and the police and state security forces in charge of those units are always closely inspecting the lists of families no matter where you go. The sentence for cohabitation is three to six months in a labor camp, depending on how many times one has been caught,” the source said.
“Some clever young people avoid the authorities by fessing up to the head of their neighborhood watch unit and slipping them some money so they won’t tell the others. Barring some unusual circumstances, that’s enough to keep things from becoming a big problem,” he added.
Article 9 of North Korea’s family law permits marriage between men aged 18 and above and women aged 17 and above. Article 11 of the same law states that a marriage must be registered with the authorities to be legally recognized and receive the protection of the state. The law also emphasizes that people are not allowed to have marital relations without registering their marriage.
That is why cohabitation is illegal and punished as a “non-socialist practice” in North Korea.
“Living together without getting married is naturally regarded as a non-socialist behavior. As such, it’s one of the things that the task force on antisocialist and non-socialist behavior [Unified Command 82] is always watching out for,” the source said.
“The government regards these people as being engaged in debauchery when they ought to be devoting themselves to the Workers’ Party, the leader and the state. It sees them as undermining their groups and organizations and socialist culture itself,” he added.
The increasing number of cohabitating young people is placing a heavier financial burden on their parents, based on the source’s account.
“When people move in together, they’re supposed to provide for their own livelihood, which includes finding a place to live. But for young people just entering the workforce, it’s not easy to achieve independence without financial help from their parents,” he said.
“That places a considerable burden on the parents, who are having enough trouble supporting themselves because of the food shortage that has been made worse by the pandemic,” he added.
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