Over half of South Koreans think it is better for couples to live together before getting married, but men and women have differing opinions about living together without agreeing to get married eventually.

Local dating app Noondate conducted the survey of 15,000 unmarried adults across the country, showing that 57 percent of male respondents and 52 percent of female respondents said it is better for couples to live together if they have agreed to get married.

But when asked about living together without marriage plans, only 18 percent of women thought that would be okay. Additionally, some 30 percent of women said couples should live together only after getting married.

Men thought differently about living together without plans to tie the knot: 30 percent said couples should live together even if they have not agreed to get married. Only 12 percent of the male respondents had the opinion that only married couples should live together.

Surveys over the years reveal that South Koreans have become more open to unmarried couples living together, but many of them view it as a step before eventually getting married.

A January survey by matchmaking firm Duo of unmarried adults showed that 61.3 percent of respondents were open to couples living together before tying the knot. But of those who did not have positive views of couples living together, 50 percent said they opposed the idea because they might not end up marrying that person.

Government statistics show that substantially fewer Korean nationals got married last year compared to a decade prior. An April report by the Statistics Korea showed that 193,673 marriages were registered across the country in 2023, roughly 40 percent less than the 322,807 in 2013.