Young South Koreans show higher interest in marriage than Japanese peers: survey

SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Yonhap) -- More than 80 percent of young South Koreans are interested in marriage compared with just 57.6 percent of young Japanese singles, a survey showed Sunday.

The poll was conducted on 2,000 South Koreans and 2,000 Japanese aged 20 to 39 from June to July, and found that 81.4 percent of the surveyed South Koreans were interested in marriage, according to a bilateral committee dealing with promoting regional growth and tackling low birth rates and aging societies.

The committee was launched on the occasion of a South Korea-Japan summit last year and is co-headed by the chiefs of each country's Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

According to the survey, 18.6 percent of South Koreans had no interest in ever getting married, while the percentage among Japanese was 42.4 percent.

As the ideal number of children, two was the most popular choice among South Koreans at 52.6 percent, followed by one at 17 percent and three or more at 7.3 percent.

Among Japanese, two was the most popular at 28.9 percent followed by three or more at 12.2 percent and one at 9.4 percent.

As conditions for marriage, the most popular answer was one's own and his or her spouse's employment and income stability at 51.8 percent among South Koreans and 41.1 percent among Japanese.