The night before their wedding, Kim Kwang-yoon and Cho Jin-oh were up until 2am with the bride's mother, setting tables. Their marriage venue: a room in the basement of Seoul City Hall, rented from the government for US$60 (RM229).
With South Korea's average wedding expenditure last year at nearly US$64,000, or about double that of the US, more citizens are spurning lavish events for smaller functions as the economy slows and parents nearing retirement have less money to splurge.
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