There is a saying in the legal community that "divorces surge in the month after Chuseok and the month after that." The idea is that couples spend a long time together during the Chuseok holiday, quarrel for various reasons, and then go to court to file for an uncontested divorce in the following month or the month after. But when ChosunBiz analyzed the "number of monthly uncontested divorce applications" filed with the courts over the past five years (2020–2024), it found the saying is half right and half wrong.
In the past five years, except for 2020 (October), the Chuseok holiday fell in September. Looking at monthly uncontested divorce filings, the numbers for October increased compared with September in 2022 and 2024, and November also rose from the previous month. In 2020, 2021, and 2023, filings increased from the previous month in the month after the Chuseok holiday, then dipped slightly the month after that. Comparing the month including Chuseok with the month two months after, the number increased every time over the past five years.
However, the three-month average including the Chuseok holiday was only about 3%–4% higher than that year's monthly average. The average number of filings from September to November 2024 was 6,622, 3% higher than the 2024 monthly average (6,842). The same holds when extending to 2020–2023. It is difficult to assert that an increase of around 3% is statistically significant.
A similar pattern appeared around Lunar New Year as well. From 2020 to 2024, uncontested divorce filings in January–February, when the Lunar New Year holiday fell, increased for two consecutive months from the previous month. However, the three-month average including Lunar New Year was similar to that year's monthly average.
The legal community analyzes that the saying "divorces increase right after Chuseok" may be a kind of optical illusion. A court official said, "People planning to file for an uncontested divorce may not be able to file in months with long holidays like Chuseok or Lunar New Year because the courts are closed, and end up filing the following month or the month after that."
Then when are divorces fewer than in other months during the year? In four of the past five years (2021–2024), uncontested divorce filings in December–January were below that year's monthly average. Attorney Lee Myeong-jin of Joongyong Law Firm said, "The number of divorce consultations drops at the end and beginning of the year, and even those who have an initial consultation then often say they will come back in two or three months," and added, "When I ask why, most say something like they don't want to be going in and out of court over divorce issues around the New Year."