What divorcees want in new marriage: money and 'vigor in life'

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The primary goals for South Korean divorcees when they remarry include economic stability and a chance to revitalize their lives, a recent survey by a local matchmaker showed.

Only-You, a matchmaking firm dealing exclusively with divorcees, conducted a survey of 258 men and 258 women to find out what they are looking for most in starting a life with a new spouse.

Of the women, 35.3 percent said they hoped to improve their financial situation, while 25.2 percent said they were looking for stability. Some 17.8 percent of the women said they hoped a new marriage would revitalize their lives, and 15.5 percent said it would raise their social status.

But for men, revitalization of life topped the list, with 29.5 percent picking it as the main reason they want to get married again. Financial improvement followed with 25.6 percent, while stability was chosen by 22.8 percent. Some 15.5 percent said remarriage would help with the pressures of daily life.

"Men tend to seek a more dynamic and vitalized life through remarriage, while women lean more toward a financially stable life," said Son Dong-gyu, the head of the company.

Men and women also differed on what aspect of a relationship would make them choose remarriage over the single life. The most popular answer for men was intimacy (35.7 percent), while equal status between spouses was the top reason for women (32.6 percent).

The second most popular reason was the same for both genders -- mutual trust, at 28.3 percent for men and 29 percent for women.

Intimacy, which was the top issue for men, ranked No. 3 with women at 23.3 percent, followed by mutual independence of spouses at 15.1 percent. Some 21.3 percent of the male respondents picked independence, followed by equal spousal status at 14.7 percent.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)