Saying "I do" to a woman from a different country is becoming more and more common in Korea. Officials at the National
Statistical Office say over 25,000 Korean men tied the knot with foreign women
last year. In 2003, it stood at 19,000 and 11,000 the year prior.
The National Statistic Office said Monday 6,629 farmers and fishermen got
married last year, and 1,814 -- 27.4 percent - of them married a foreign woman,
three times the national average. Of the total 310,944 marriages that took
place in Korea last year, only 25,594 or 8.2 percent were between Korean men
and foreign women. "This appears to be because Korean women avoid marrying men
from rural areas, so men in such areas who cannot find wives are opting for
international marriages."
Also last year, the number of weddings between Korean men and foreign women
accounted for over 8 percent of the total number of marriages. By region, men
from Korea's farming and fishing communities were most active in finding a
foreign bride. Some 27 percent of marriages in these regions were
"international" engagements, meaning about one in every four newly-weds had
different ethnic backgrounds.
By
nationality, the majority of the brides came from China,
followed by those from Vietnam and the Philippines.
Experts say the trend is due to a rise in the number of
Korean women preferring spouses in urban areas, making
it difficult for men in rural regions to find a
bride.
