The number of couples who divorced after living together for more than 20 years surpassed those with less than four years of marriage for the first time last year, Statistics Korea said Tuesday. The number of divorce cases filed by couples married for over 20 years reached 30,200 in 2012, compared with 28,200 of those married less than four years.

This is up from 28,300 in 2011 for divorced couples with 20 years of marriage, but down from 30,700 for those married for less than four years.

Couples who divorced after 20 years of marriage accounted for the most, at 26.4 percent of the total.

Last year, a total of 114,300 divorce cases were filed, up from 114,000 in 2011.

The crude divorce rate, or the number of divorces per 1,000 inhabitants, stood at 2.3 in 2012.

Meanwhile, the number of cases filed by divorced couples after more than 30 years of marriage reached 8,600 last year, up 8.8 percent, the biggest rise among all divorce demographics.

More and more aging couples have been filing for divorce as they seek new opportunities to start fresh in life as life expectancy increases in Korea.

Data showed that Korean couples who divorce opt to do so after living together for 13.7 years on average. Men usually filed for divorce at the age of 46 while women 42 on average.

Meanwhile, women in Seoul wed at the average age of 30.2, the oldest nationwide for the first time. Men on average marry at 32.

By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)