"Is It a Crime to Ask for the Condolence Money Sent in My Name?"

"Only Asking for 300,000 Won as Workplace Return Gift"
Story That Led to Considering Divorce with Husband
"Get a Divorce" vs "Inappropriate During Mourning"

Netizens have mixed reactions to a wife’s story about arguing with her husband over condolence money received at her father-in-law’s funeral, to the point of considering divorce.

On the 22nd, a post titled "Divorce Crisis Over Condolence Money" gained attention on the online community for office workers, Blind. The author, A, who is a public servant, started by asking, "Isn't it right for me to keep the condolence money from my coworkers that was given to me at my father-in-law’s funeral?"

In particular, A said she asked her husband to contribute just 300,000 won to return the favor to her coworkers, but her husband hesitated, which escalated their marital fight.

The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. [Photo by Pixabay]

A explained, "If the funeral expenses had exceeded the condolence money received, I wouldn’t have thought of keeping it, but there was plenty left over. I didn’t even ask for all the money that came to me, just 300,000 won to return the favor, but he refuses and it’s causing tension."

She added, "My husband makes excuses like, ‘If I take care of you, I have to give some to your sister too. And is it appropriate to talk about money during mourning?’"

A said that the remaining condolence money was taken by her mother-in-law and husband, and shared, "Others say their in-laws take care of the condolence money given to the daughter-in-law separately because they know the daughter-in-law worked hard during the funeral, but I didn’t get a single won. I’m frustrated that my in-laws don’t know how to take care of the daughter-in-law and my husband’s attitude is ridiculous and makes me angry."

Eventually, the argument escalated to the point of mentioning divorce. A said she wrote the divorce agreement and "threw it on my husband’s desk" before ending her post.

In response, many netizens supported A, commenting, "It’s normally given voluntarily. The husband and his family are strange," and "What’s wrong is wrong. Don’t back down and push through with the divorce."

On the other hand, some expressed regret over the wife’s attitude, saying, "It’s also a problem to fight over a small amount of money," and "Was it really necessary to talk about money during mourning?"

Meanwhile, according to the ‘2022 Marriage and Divorce Statistics’ released by Statistics Korea on the 18th, divorces last year totaled 93,000, down 8.3% (8,300 cases) from the previous year, marking a decline for the third consecutive year.

The annual number of divorces falling below 100,000 is the first time in 25 years since 1997 (91,000 cases), when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) financial crisis occurred. The number of divorces in Korea peaked at 116,000 in 1998, when the IMF crisis fully hit, and reached a high of 167,000 in 2003.

This is analyzed to be influenced by the continuous decrease in marriages. The number of marriages has decreased for 11 consecutive years from 329,000 in 2011 to 191,000 last year.