The divorce rates tend to go up shortly after couples go through major holidays such as Chuseok or Lunar New Year’s Day, a report showed on Wednesday.

“More people sign up for divorce counseling sessions after the holidays and many end up going their separate ways,” said Park So-hyun, a consultant of Korea Legal and Aid Center for Family Relations.

The higher divorce rate suggests that Korean couples are likely to fight with each other during the holidays as they have to handle more household chores together.

According to Statistics Korea, the number of divorces was 11.5 percent higher from February to March and from October to November than the average month.

The number of split-ups was 9,398 in February and 9,511 in March last year while the figure was lower at 8,524 in April, suggesting the impact of the holidays. Similar patterns were shown after the Chuseok holidays in October and November.

Experts said couples should try to understand each other during the holidays that generate stress among family members in connection with the division of household chores and tasks.

By Yoon Ha-youn, Intern reporter
(yhayoun@heraldcorp.com)