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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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 Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 2:03 am Post subject: YAHOO HIGHLIGHTS KOREAN INT'L MARRIAGE & DIVORCE |
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In case you missed it, this "just in" from the AFP wire:
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International marriages -- and divorces -- surge in SKorea
by Park Chan-Kyong
Fri May 11
Despite the unromantic occasion, Ngo Ngoc Quy Hong says it was love at first sight when she and other Vietnamese women held a group meeting with prospective husbands from South Korea 17 months ago.
"I don't know why but at that moment, I knew I had just found my man," said Hong, 21, beaming at her husband who is 19 years older than her.
"Age does not matter. I am very happy now," she said in halting Korean, her gold bracelet glinting as she flipped through an album of their wedding photos taken in Ho Chi Minh City.
Her husband Kim Choong-Hwan, a 40-year-old truck driver, has only one regret.
"I regret I had no chance to meet a Vietnamese woman earlier. If I had, I would have married a Vietnamese," said Kim, who divorced his first wife, a South Korean, in 2002.
"Hong is six months' pregnant. I know it's a son," he told AFP proudly during an interview at their modest apartment in Osan, 55 km (34 miles) south of Seoul.
Kim is among a growing army of South Korean bachelors or divorcees who have turned to China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Mongolia, Thailand, Russia, Uzbekistan and other foreign countries for brides.
In a country long known for its homogeneous make-up, government statistics show that the number of marriages to foreigners jumped 21.6 percent to 43,121 in 2005 -- 13.6 percent of all newlyweds.
Experts say many farmers who fail to persuade local women to accept a rural lifestyle, and surplus bachelors resulting from the traditional preference for sons over daughters, turn to foreign brides.
The National Statistical Office said 72 percent of international marriages involved Korean men and foreign women. Chinese brides topped the list at 66.2 percent, followed by Vietnamese with 18.7 percent, Japanese with four percent and Filipinas with 3.2 percent.
But Vietnamese brides are becoming increasingly popular. The number of such weddings jumped by 136.5 percent to 5,822 in 2005 compared to a mere 95 in 2000.
"Vietnamese women are quite popular here as they are considered the most tolerant to Korea's Confucianist, family-oriented culture and they adapt well here," said Lee Eun-Tae, president of Interwedding Co.
Hong said she had been a fan of Korean TV dramas aired in Vietnam, part of a wave of Korean pop culture spreading across Asia.
Her twin sister married a Korean three months before her. Another sister has also tied the knot with a Korean who travelled to Vietnam alongside Kim to find a bride.
Kim said he had chanced on a street sign reading: "Why don't you marry a beautiful Vietnamese?" He visited a marriage agency in Seoul after he became frustrated with what he called materialistic local women.
"Their first questions are only concerned with your social status, occupation, income and the like. They don't care about character," he said.
Kim spent 10,000 dollars for a five-day package tour to Vietnam which included a wedding ceremony and a one-night honeymoon.
Decisions on brides are made within a matter of hours through a group get-together. Out of a line-up of 40 girls, Kim and five others made three picks each.
The brides and their families have the final say on who should be the lucky ones. They may reject all the men on offer.
Most such marriages are arranged by commercial agencies like Interwedding.
"Then, you may ask where is romance? But love is something that can come instantly and all the men and women taking part in this programme are prepared to get married very soon," Lee said.
But couples like Hong and Kim can be the lucky ones.
Lee said some of his competitors failed to do their homework, screening bridegrooms and brides cursorily and introducing couples unfit to marry.
A government survey showed one out of every five migrant women found their Korean husbands different from the description they received from the agencies.
Activists say some foreign brides end up living with spouses who have few assets or are ill, alcoholic or of difficult character.
A 2005 study by the Ministry of Health and Welfare showed that 14 percent of 945 migrant wives surveyed said they had been beaten by their Korean husbands.
"Some Korean husbands, unable to get through to their foreign wives because of language barriers, get angry and beat them. They also tend to think they have purchased their wives," said Kwon Mi-Ju of the Women Migrants Human Rights Centre.
Activists say foreign brides often face serious problems adapting to a new life in a country with a different culture and atmosphere.
As a result, divorces between Korean men and foreign wives are rising fast, reaching 2,400 in 2005 -- up 65 percent from the previous year.
"Lured by the country's economic strength, many foreign women come here harboring illusions about Korea," said Yoo Kyung-Sun, an aide to lawmaker Kim Choon-Jin. Kim has proposed a law bill to curb reckless matchmaking by commercial agencies. |
This past week Arirang TV has been running a mini-series on SE Asian women married to Korean (mostly rural) men. Of course, all the coverage depicts these men in a positive light and all the women are grateful for the chance at a much better life.
What do you make of all this? What do you think about local media coverage that gives the impression that these men only seek out these foreign brides as an act of desperation? |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 2:15 am Post subject: |
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Dude, where've you been? The rising number of international marriages in Korea has been going on for a couple of years, so it's nothing new.
Anyway, I remember one survey saying the majority of the foreign wives, around 85 percent, say they would not marry a Korean guy again. I guess for some, economic desperation or just naivete from watching too many Korean dramas drove them to do something they ended up regretting.
However, I remember hearing one story on KBS News about a Korean male widow who had four kids. Finding a new wife to help take care of his offspring was tough, so he married a Vietnamese woman. She got pregnant soon after getting married, and they seem to have a nice life, but he said they'll move to Vietnam if their biracial kid has trouble in Korea.
Korea will have to start preparing for a larger number of biracial kids. I hear certain parts of the Jeolla provinces have a LOT of foreign wives, and the children they will bear will change the ethnic landscape of the country.
I do agree that many foreign wives are lied to, given false photos of their grooms and the like. But man, $10,000 for a tour, wedding and one-night honeymoon? I'm sure one can do it cheaper without a matchmaking agency. Just go into myspace.com or match.com |
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wo buxihuan hanguoren
Joined: 18 Apr 2007
Location: Suyuskis
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| Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 2:19 am Post subject: |
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| I do agree that many foreign wives are lied to, given false photos of their grooms and the like. But man, $10,000 for a tour, wedding and one-night honeymoon? I'm sure one can do it cheaper without a matchmaking agency. Just go into myspace.com or match.com |
Yeah, indeed. Just fly to Vietnam and it will be easy to meet women. The pecking order in S-E Asia for the local ladies is as follows:
- White men are number one, failing that, Asian men from places with cash like Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore, then the local men, then black men (this depends a lot though on where the black guy is from actually). |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 2:26 am Post subject: |
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Yaya wondered:
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| Dude, where've you been? The rising number of international marriages in Korea has been going on for a couple of years, so it's nothing new. |
It's not where I've been but the local and international media, hence the reason for posting it. It begs the question: why all the attention now, or still after years of this apparent phenomenon?
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| Korea will have to start preparing for a larger number of biracial kids. I hear certain parts of the Jeolla provinces have a LOT of foreign wives, and the children they will bear will change the ethnic landscape of the country. |
Now you're getting somewhere. This is likely to be a big issue soon. What do you (or other posters) suspect the social outcome will be for this monoculture? |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 2:29 am Post subject: |
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| stevemcgarrett wrote: |
Yaya wondered:
| Quote: |
| Dude, where've you been? The rising number of international marriages in Korea has been going on for a couple of years, so it's nothing new. |
It's not where I've been but the local and international media, hence the reason for posting it. It begs the question: why all the attention now, or still after years of this apparent phenomenon? |
Look, dude, just because YOU discovered this article doesn't mean it hasn't been news. Other international media have written stories about it. AFP isn't exactly in the same league with the Associated Press or the New York Times, both of which did stories about the international marriages considerably earlier than AFP. |
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mervsdamun
Joined: 06 Jun 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 2:35 am Post subject: |
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| Yaya wrote: |
I do agree that many foreign wives are lied to, given false photos of their grooms and the like. But man, $10,000 for a tour, wedding and one-night honeymoon? I'm sure one can do it cheaper without a matchmaking agency. Just go into myspace.com or match.com |
It is amazing, isn�t it. Same with hogwon owners. My first school apparently paid their agent 1,500,000 won for my signature. But the extent of that guy�s efforts was listing the position in the local newspaper and to talking to me on the phone. Once.
But back to the OP � it�s very interesting to follow the changes in the Korean demographics. Some things are changing very quickly in this country. I feel sorry for the kids, they will be the first (sizable) generation in this country with such mixed background� though I�d imagine in a number of rural schools in places such as Jeolla, they will outnumber the �pure� ones. |
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mervsdamun
Joined: 06 Jun 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 2:37 am Post subject: |
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| Yaya wrote: |
Look, dude, just because YOU discovered this article doesn't mean it hasn't been news. Other international media have written stories about it. AFP isn't exactly in the same league with the Associated Press or the New York Times, both of which did stories about the international marriages considerably earlier than AFP. |
True, saw a story on this on the BBC almost two years ago, IIRC. Lot of other outlets covered it as well. |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 2:51 am Post subject: |
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| There's a school in Dongducheon exclusively for biracial kids. It's not recognized by the Korean school system but is by the U.S. one. Go figure. |
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ChuckECheese
Joined: 20 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 3:23 am Post subject: |
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| wo buxihuan hanguoren wrote: |
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| I do agree that many foreign wives are lied to, given false photos of their grooms and the like. But man, $10,000 for a tour, wedding and one-night honeymoon? I'm sure one can do it cheaper without a matchmaking agency. Just go into myspace.com or match.com |
Yeah, indeed. Just fly to Vietnam and it will be easy to meet women. The pecking order in S-E Asia for the local ladies is as follows:
- White men are number one, failing that, Asian men from places with cash like Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore, then the local men, then black men (this depends a lot though on where the black guy is from actually). |
Wow, the pucking order? 
I'm glad to know that I'm way up front.....  |
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TheBrain
Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Location: Acme Lab
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| Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 3:35 am Post subject: |
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| There's a school in Dongducheon exclusively for biracial kids. It's not recognized by the Korean school system but is by the U.S. one. Go figure |
Who or what is "the U.S. one"? |
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Milwaukiedave
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong
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| Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 3:40 am Post subject: |
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| The same subject was posted about two weeks ago. No huge surprise that Korean men who are in their 40, 50, and 60's marrying 20 something year old women from Thailand, China, etc and the marriages not working out. |
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tzechuk
Joined: 20 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 3:45 am Post subject: |
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10,000 = 10 million won.
Much cheaper than marrying a local girl. |
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Wrench
Joined: 07 Apr 2005
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| Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 3:48 am Post subject: |
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| Stop posting sh3it in caps are you a tard? |
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oldfatfarang
Joined: 19 May 2005
Location: On the road to somewhere.
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| Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 4:00 am Post subject: |
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[quote=" The pecking order in S-E Asia for the local ladies is as follows:
- White men are number one, failing that, Asian men from places with cash like Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore, then the local men, then black men (this depends a lot though on where the black guy is from actually).[/quote]
I've also spoken to Thai girls/women whose dream is to, "find a husband from Norway". No prizes for guessing which country has the world's best welfare system. |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 12:35 am Post subject: |
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| TheBrain wrote: |
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| There's a school in Dongducheon exclusively for biracial kids. It's not recognized by the Korean school system but is by the U.S. one. Go figure |
Who or what is "the U.S. one"? |
The American school system. |
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