Korea sees international marriages surge > 영어토론방

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By Cho Chung-un Maybe not love at first sight in the traditional sense, but Kim Hee-sun, a 32-year-old ethnic Vietnamese woman, knew that she had found the right person when she met a Korean man on a "bride-seeking" trip to Vietnam three years ago.
 
As she had also caught his attention, Kim and her future husband, then 38, decided to get married after only three dates. It was his tender smile that drew her to him the most, but without a matchmaking agency they would never have met. However, it was not easy for her to adjust to a new environment.
 
Differences in language and culture matter, said Kim. Lorraine West-Dantin, an Australian woman married to a Korean church pastor, is thinking about going back to Australia in the near future. West-Dantin, who gave birth to her first son Ji-ho six weeks ago, says the main reason she is considering leaving the country after some years is the Korean education system.
 
"The education system here is very restricted compared to that of Western countries. Education culture in Western countries is more open for students and encourages them to interrupt teachers to freely express what they think of the subjects," she said. Despite the problems facing couples from different backgrounds, there has been a dramatic growth in "international marriages" in recent years, especially between Korean men and women from Southeast Asian countries.
 
The phenomenon makes Koreans realize that the rise in international marriages is not just about numbers. It reflects how the nation is fast becoming a multicultural and multi-ethnic society and importantly, indicates that accepting ethnic diversity has become inevitable in this society, experts said. There were 43,121 marriages between Koreans and non-Koreans in 2005, up 21.6 percent from a year earlier. This means 14 out of 100 couples that tied the knot in 2005 were international.
 
Experts attribute the trend to the increasing number of Korean men in rural farming regions who are taking foreign wives. The male-female ratio in those areas has been declining drastically, so there aren`t enough local women to marry. Four out of every 10 men in rural areas marry non-Korean Asian women. Experts say this will result in around 2 million mixed-race births by 2020. The soaring number of matrimonial agencies specializing in introducing brides from Southeast Asia has also played a crucial role in the rise of iternational marriages. If the trend continues for a few more years in this largely conservative and homogeneous society, Koreans will eventually learn how to accept others, experts said.


"The number of international marriages will go up for a while. Perhaps the social change is telling us that it is the time to readjust ourselves by embracing differences in color and cultures," said Seol Dong-hoon, sociology professor at Chonbuk National University. "Korean society should become more open-minded about racial issues such as international marriages and mixed-blood children," he added. Accompanied by a matrimonial agency, bride-seekers typically fly to Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and meet a number of bride candidates recommended by the agency. If the man finds a match, they become husband and wife within four days.
 
Overall, it usually takes one week for a single man to get married although he has to wait three months for his wife to get a visa to come to Korea. "Korean men are given only 30 minutes to choose their future wives. The government should encourage them to talk more and share views before they actually get married," said Seol. The professor told The Korea Herald that Koreans spend an average 10 million won ($11,000) for the five- or six-day trip to Southeast Asian countries.
 
Local authorities have also stepped up efforts to assimilate foreign groups here as part of their campaign to tackle low birth rates and aging populations in rural areas. According to news reports, some local governments have proposed a bill to support unmarried farmers and fishermen marrying foreigners.

Haenam, in the southwest of Korea, proposed a plan to provide unmarried men with 5 million won ($5,500) for expenses spent on bringing in foreign spouses. Other local authorities also plan to assist foreign spouses to settle into communities and find jobs. They are also considering providing financial assistance for having children. The central government has begun work to eliminate discrimination and improve living conditions for mixed-blood Koreans, including revisions to immigration and citizenship laws.
 
The Ministry of Justice will ease regulations this year to grant citizenship and permanent resident rights to foreigners in de facto marriages with Koreans. The rights will also be extended to their children. Currently, unless foreign partners officially register a marriage with the authorities, they and their children are not entitled to Korean nationality.


"The measure is a way to tackle the nation`s twin problems of low birth rate and aging population," added Kim. Meanwhile, a group of ethnic Koreans married to foreigners called for legislation to enhance the legal status of mixed-race individuals and to protect them from discrimination in the workplace, school and others areas of society.
Silvia Patton, president of the Korean-American Women`s Associations of USA, said in a recent interview with the Korea Herald that her organization is planning to file a petition to the nation`s human rights watchdog this October.
 
"The nation should compensate those who have suffered from widespread discrimination only because their skin colors were different," said Patton whose Korean name is Yoon Young-sil. She is an ethnic Korean married to American for some 20 years. The government suggested that it will remove the term "mixed-blood" in legal documents because of its racial nuance in a country that puts high value on its homogeneity. The term will be replaced with something similar to "children of an international marriage couple." The move to abolish social discrimination of mixed-race residents received a boost with the visit to Korea of American Super Bowl star Hines Ward, the son of a Korean mother and an African-American father.
 
The government will also push for new legislation to enhance the legal status of mixed-race individuals and protect them from discrimination in the workplace, school and others areas of society. In addition, the government will study ways to expand educational opportunities as well as promote welfare benefits for mixed-race children. The government plans to operate daycare centers for low-income families and encourage them to receive higher education by widening the opportunity to enter university. The increasing number of international marriages is also raising awareness of the need to make institutional changes to cope with a sizeable mixed-race population in the future.


Question

1. Have you seen international marriages before? Where and how did you feel?
2. What is your ideal type of future husband or wife?
3. Can you marry with a person that is not a Korean?
If you are going to marry, tell us your plan (home, education, food etc). Moreover,
what could be the problem as having international marriage?
4. How could we help people who married internationally?

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