Aided by the media and the internet, cohabitation has become a trend nowadays, with society having become more sexually progressive even as the young have adopted a revolutionary outlook. Moreover, the concept of cohabitation itself has changed. There are many advertisements on websites which seek a suitable man or woman for cohabitation in a university town.
As of March 2008, there are about 20 cohabitation sites such as cohabitation.com, donggoe, ilovedonggoe, 2 and 2 donggoe club. DAUM, a portal site, has 300 web cafes devoted to cohabitation. One of the web cafes, 'ilovedonggoe,' is composed of 20,000 members, and it contains language and concepts entirely unfamiliar to the older generation. Terms like contract couple, one-night stand, and roommate want ads on this website indicate that a culture of cohabitation which does not presuppose marriage is now here.
"Twenty years ago, the preservation of virginity before marriage was emphasized when I was a college student. Since it was sinful for a man and a woman to live together before marriage without the knowledge of their parents, no moral person had premarital sex," said Lee Soeng-bok (43), a senior master sergeant in the air force.
But according to the Korea Social Research Center's survey of South Korean teenagers in 2006, of 5132 middle and high school students, 42.3% approved of cohabitation before marriage.
"Because we live together, we can share our university experience as well as our emotions, permitting a deep understanding between us. We can also satisfy our sexual curiosity because we are independent from our parents. In addition, we try not to restrict each other's freedom," said Mr. Park, a DAU student who is living together with his girlfriend. "But we do fear pregnancy and have to bear the psychological burden of social prejudice," he added.
Reporter Kim Do-hyung blueguy@donga.ac.kr
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