K-drama vs Reality: Why South Koreans love fantasy romance but remain single and childless

Are expectations of the young falling short of the perfect romance seen in Korean dramas?

Seven out of ten South Koreans think cohabiting is a better idea than marriage, according to the 2022 Korea Social Survey. The country already has the lowest birthrate in the world - why does marriage seem like a bad idea in South Korea?

Living together before marriage is still a taboo, but check out how some South Koreans are willing to challenge social norms.

00:00 Does reality match up to K-drama romance?
01:00 How K-drama storylines are changing
02:37 Economic difficulties getting in the way of love
03:06 Why cohabitation is on the rise in South Korea
04:37 A Korean couple shares their cohabitating experience
06:01 Will recognising cohabiting couples help boost birth rates in South Korea?

Watch #LoveDelayed, a series that uncovers what keeps young singles from in Asia from dating seriously and why they delay marriage and parenthood.

Watch more:
Love(less) In China: Why Aren’t Young Chinese Getting Married? | Insight | Full Episode

Is Modern Dating More Casual And Less Committal? Singaporean Millennials And Gen Zs Spill All

I Want To Be A K-Pop Idol: Can Intensive Bootcamps In South Korea Help? - Part 2 | Talking Point

#SouthKorea #MarriageCrisis #CohabitationTrend #LoveVsTradition #Kdrama #moderndating

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[chxrry]

All I want to say to all young girls is that the plotline in kdrama is written by women towards women. Men function different in irl

[studswat]

It's just like why I love Call of Duty Modern Warfare but I remain to be an office worker instead of a Tier One Special Forces operator.

[Jumo]

All about money and time.
Pay us enough and let us go home early, so we can have time with our family.

[explorernas]

This proves that everything that looks shiny is not gold. People want to see realistic dramas that's why parasite and squid game are big hits

[doingtime]

I don't like people treating this "people don't want to marry and have kids" as some huge mystery. The reasons are obvious and apparent, in big cities people are living in extremely competitive environments, where they are demanded to focus 100% on their jobs. Not to thrive, just to barely survive. There it is, mystery solved.
If you want people to have romance and children then don't treat them as robots, have a society where there is balance between work and personal life, and give them salaries that actually allow them to be mostly worry free.

[wm]

in tv, the couple never have to care about time, money, unemployment. welcome to the real life

[Archita-gx]

Its a dangerous reality check how SK the world's best fantasy creators in reality suffers from highest rate of depression, suicide and lowest fertility rates . Its shows the big big difference between k drama and real world.

[falkenvir]

They want the Romance but not the Duty and Work required in a Marriage.

[Milchi]

When she says "men are more chivalrous here", she means the 10% at the top that can throw money around while the other men checked out of dating entirely.

[Dominus_Potatus]

we always love to watch something that we can't get

[deekay]

Not unique to SK. It’s happening across all developed countries.

[KBowWow]

The ones who struggle the most in reality are the ones to always create the best fantasies. How many comedians are depressive? Look at Robin Williams, Jim Carey, Louis C.K.

[dia.ko]

I feel this wasn't so much about South Koreans as about myself. Why I remain single and childless but love K-drama-romance. 😅😂

[yushikuang]

Wow only 3% cohabitation in SK! Here in Quebec (Canada) only 52% of the family are married and 48% are common law union which is non married couple but the kids has the same rights than married couple. As women are very educated here and we have gender equity policies, 48% of the task force are female. Women doesn’t need marriage as a financial protection. A couple is mainly base on love. But most immigrants still choose to get a marriage by cultural values or religious.

[bugra]

In a K-drama the man is portrayed as rich or CEO of a company LOL

[eazyetodre]

Isn't it people's fault to think that drama represents real life though? Do we see Indians or Filipinos living their regular life similar to what's shown in their dramas lol!!

[Youyouhssssjjjnnhbb-xjyl]

The solution is pretty simple really. In Korea to do a marriage ceremony it cost more than in Europe and America. Govt needs to reign in and make the process less pricey by opening govt schemes and reducing private sectors running as marrage ceremony agency and off course benefits for child care too. This will help a lot

[Youyouhssssjjjnnhbb-xjyl]

Have you ever seen a kdrama about married family with kids? Offcourse not. Its always single people

[datoolbox]

Nobody thinks Hollywood films are a reflection reality. I don't know why CNA assumes people would think otherwise about Korean entertainment. With one of the lowest press freedom in the world, it is no coincidence that this Korea hit piece is a series of attempts by state-run CNA to bash a fellow asian nation to mask Singapore's problems. Let me remind you that this kind of ill intentioned, antagonism can go both ways when more and more Koreans find out about your propapanda campaign.

[victoryv]

I don't understand why people in comment section assume that these people are not happy and they are living their lives unfulfilled and are shallow because they are not married . ..people are projecting their own insecurities on these people ..these people trying their best to live their lives without destroying somebody's else ..that majority of people do when they are married ...fantasy is just form of entertainment ..I don't like wars but I like war movies and series