Hi, I’m a South Korean living in Korea. I’m writing this because I’m curious if Western countries face similar legal and social issues regarding marriage and divorce as we do here.
In Korea, there's a growing concern among men about what we call the "Marriage Scam" or "Strategic Divorce." Here are a few points that make marriage feel like a high-risk gamble here:
1.Prenups are Useless: Even if a couple signs a prenuptial agreement, Korean courts often ignore them during a divorce. Judges have the final say in redistributing wealth based on "contribution," making contracts virtually toothless.
2.The "3-5-10" Milestones: There’s a common belief that some people strategically stay married for 3, 5, or 10 years just to hit the legal threshold for a 30% to 50% asset split.
3.The "Stop Lurker" Strategy: We use the term "Stop Lurker" (a StarCraft reference) to describe people who hide their true intentions/personality until after marriage, only to "burrow out" and demand a divorce once they are legally entitled to the husband's assets.
4.Weaponizing Children: Some spouses use children as leverage, brainwashing them to see the father only as an "ATM" while preparing for a divorce to secure alimony and child support.
5.Pre-marital Assets are Not Safe: Recently, courts have even started awarding about 30% of assets that were earned entirely before marriage to the other spouse, simply because they "helped maintain" the household for a few years.
Because of this, many young men in Korea are becoming extremely cynical about marriage.
I want to ask:
Does your country’s legal system actually respect prenuptial agreements?
Do you see similar cases where people strategically marry and divorce just for an asset split?
Is it common in the West for a spouse to get a share of assets that their partner owned before they even met?
I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences.