North Korea’s changing marriage culture…a choice not of love?
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Marriage culture in North Korea is reportedly undergoing noticeable changes. While relationships across class lines have existed in the past, it is now common for people to date and marry people from families with similar circumstances and backgrounds.
As a result, the trend is for class divisions to become even more pronounced.
Young people from ordinary households, even if they lack financial means, tend to value relationships built on mutual understanding and support. Meanwhile, those from wealthier families are increasingly inclined to seek partners who match their own social standing.
In particular, among the children of officials or affluent families, so-called ‘marriages within the same situation’ have become fashionable.
On June 2, for example, the son of a North Hamgyong Province Party Committee official married the daughter of a Chongjin City Party Committee official after two years of dating. Since they were raised in families with similar social status and economic background, it is said that their expectations and understanding of married life were well aligned.
The source said that such marriages are not merely personal choices but calculated, strategic unions aimed at maintaining shared privileges within the elite class, while leveraging political connections and economic benefits.
A similar case occurred in Hoeryong last month when an official from the city’s Ministry of Public Security reportedly arranged for his daughter to meet the son of a deputy director at a Chongjin-based trading company, and the two agreed to marry on the spot.
“In the past, those with high Party loyalty and revolutionary spirit were considered ideal marriage partners, but now, economic power and social status take precedence,” the source said.
“As political and economic boundaries between classes become more rigid, rather than choosing a partner from different backgrounds, people are increasingly meeting partners from similar backgrounds,” she said.
“Today, the gap between social classes has widened to the point where choices in dating and marriage are heavily influenced by economic and social background,” she said.
As such, recently in North Korea, practical, survival-driven decisions are being prioritized. In particular, young people, when considering life after marriage, are placing increasing importance on financial stability, which naturally leads them to seek out partners with similar backgrounds, the source said.
Han was born in 1989 in Taehongdan county, Ryanggang province, North Korea. She graduated from Hyesan Teacher's College in 2012, after which she worked as an elementary school teacher. She defected to South Korea in 2016 and works as a reporter at NK Times in Seoul.
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