World View

Gee

Society is deteriorating all over the world.

seah, I don't think society is deteriorating all over the world. Some of these societies have always been this way, mistresses, geisha, concubines, multiple wives, whatever you want to call them. I don't think they are deteriorating, I think they are finally catching up with the rest of the world and monogamy.

And this impacts our lives how?

what a mad world we live in .there is not a nuff men in the world for woman.its about time woman did the same as men,

I agree with Samhiguchi. Asian societies put much emphasis on keeping up appearances. Who knows what exactly has been going on underneath? To tell the truth, I find Americans to be just as conservative, if not more so in certain areas of life. Think Puritan values.

Japan did not have any problem like this.

how can you fail to mention that 79% of men having affairs are doing so with prostitutes? shoddy.

The reporter did not adequately answer the headline's question, failing to note the prevalance of prostitution in many different forms from hookers in red light districts to hostesses in upscale private rooms. This explains why adultery rates are so much higher for men than for women.

No, the reporter did not adequately answer the title's question, but maybe that wasn't the intent of this post to begin with.

As for prostitution, perhaps it is "because" men tend to commit adultery that prostitution is so common in Korea (as well as Japan and other Asian countries), due to a long entrenched male-based culture that condones men getting some outside action every now and then.

Don't understand why ABC still keeps such a shoddy journalist around. This issue goes far deeper into Korean society, and ancedotes from her friends hardly seem worth mentioning. An in-depth report about rampant prostitution and its place in the workplace and the homes of so many in South Korea would be worth reading. I hope someone asks Miss Cho about that.

Korea has long had a "male-based culture." However, widespread prostitution is a more recent phenomenon owing to rising incomes coupled with unequal job opportunities. In the past, most men did not have the money to buy sex. Now they do. Women sell sex because their other employment options pay far less.

Supporting Ddapddaphae's contention, what about the highly probable link between this conservative view of monogamy and spousal (i.e., wives) abuse?

"Why is Adultery So Popular in South Korea?"

Simply put, because many Korean women prefer to marry for material rather than purely romantic reasons.

Once trapped inside a loveless marriage, of course many spouses will choose to stray.

The key question, of course, is: If a woman marries mainly for financial-security reasons, is she any less of a prostitute than women in the local RLDs?

Modern Korean women are not nearly as liberated as they tend to think they are.

And why do Korean women prefer to marry for material rather than purely romantic reasons? Because in the past most career-path white collar positions in business, government, and higher education were filled by men even though women comprise half of all college graduates and about 40% of the top three schools. Women without college degrees were likewise shut out of higher wage jobs in auto factories and the like. And of course, women were fired or forced to quit either after marriage or during the first pregnancy. Little wonder women marry for money.

Times have changed and sex discrimination is declining both dejure and defacto, but there is still a gap that forces many women to be economically dependent on a spouse. The same sex discrimination that motivates women to weigh heavily a man's wealth also motivates less marriageable women to become prostitutes. The key difference is that prostitutes provide sex only. A wife provides a family, giving birth to and raising children and running a household. Wives have a far larger and more diverse skillset than prostitutes, and they provide tangible economic benefits by raising future citizens and doing housework that would otherwise be contracted out.

Adultery is more or less prevalent in the other parts of Asia. So, there is no cause for worry among Korean males that they are being cheated by their wives and vice versa. Adultery is very much popular in other Asian countries as in Korea.

Kerry, so what you're saying is Korean women are helpless victims with no control over their lives, and Korean wives are essentially hookers with benefits.

You have grossly mischaracterized my arguments, King Baeksu. There is no either/or black-or-white choice between omnipotency and helpless victimhood. Both sexes have power and choices; however, men have more power and choices than women. Regular sex is only one benefit of marriage and that tends to decline over time, yet couples stay married, so no, Korean wives aren't "hookers with benefits."

"men have more power and choices than women."

Don't think so; women are, after all, the sexual gatekeepers, which is obvious to observe at any bar.

Women have as many choices as they allow themselves to have. If they stopped marrying guys just for money, everyone would be a lot happier in the long-run.

What's with you folks' obsession with prostitution (and it not being mentioned in this post)? Prostitution is more of a result than motivation. There must have been a demand, as well as a cultural mindset that would somewhat condone its use and practice, in order for prostitution to have become so widespread when economical and sociological conditions amenable to it were met. If that were not true, then why is prostitution so widespread in Korea anyway, when it's clearly forbidden by law? True, the ease in buying sex for money may encourage some men to commit adultery when they otherwise would not, but compared to more fundamental cultural factors, this effect would really be minor.

They are single-mindedly obsessed with it because they were referred here by some other blog that talked about it. Apparently, they take whatever shallow remarks they read there too seriously, while lacking the capability to think for themselves about the issues. No wonder those "korea expat blogs" are also called "echo chambers."