As North Korean women are slowly getting

married at later ages, men in the North are finding that older brides or donju

[new affluent middle class] divorcees are more attractive partners to tie the

knot with, Daily NK has learned.

“Compared to the ‘90s, the culture of

marriage has changed a lot, with everything from the age at which people get

married and who people choose to get married to, changing,” a source from North

Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Monday. “The age at which men get married has

not changed much, but for women, it has been pushed back from the early 20s to

the late 20s.”

He added that North Korean men are usually

27 years old by the time they are discharged from the military, and generally

desperate to find spouses and settle down into a stable life. In the past,

attractive women around the age of 23–especially teachers, doctors, or hotel

workers–would be the most sought-out brides. “But now, those who earn a lot of

money are considered the best, even if they have already married once,” he

explained.

There is a longstanding notion in North

Korea that “a woman at the age of 23 is like a piece of gold, one at 25 is

considered bronze, and 27 is scrap iron,” but the donju, of whom a large

percentage are women, broke onto the scene and continue to shatter these

antiquated molds.

And so, as donju success grows, so does

their desire to break free of traditional constraints. “An increasing number of

women are shunning marriage and trying to live single, claiming that saving

money is more important than matrimony,” the source said, adding that most

females with the ability to be financially independent are over the age of 30.

Young men, however, are eager to try to woo

them over, preferring “women who have their own homes and a financial

foundation,” he said. “That naturally leads to growing interest in

older women or widows as potential spouses.”

Still, despite trends of women looking to

live the single life, a fit, youthful husband in good health means women

working in the market economy can focus on trade instead of having to care for

their spouse, so many ultimately come to see such a marriage as advantageous–fusing

traditional values with economic realities.

”As recently as a decade ago, people would

judge single men marrying divorcees,” the source said. “Now that’s all the in

the past.”