On January 13th, reports emerged of a Vietnamese woman going missing just six days after marrying her South Korean husband.

The husband, who had a busy schedule preventing him from pursuing a traditional marriage, opted for an international marriage through a South Korean marriage broker company.

Although the husband had met the Vietnamese woman in Vietnam prior to their marriage, the Vietnamese woman’s light-hearted attitude completely changed after entering South Korea.

The husband elucidated his frustration, having spent 30 million won on the international marriage and facing negligence from the broker company when he explained the incident.

When questioned by the husband, the marriage agency responded apathetically and conceded that this was a recurring issue they couldn’t moderate.

Immigration records report that she is still in Korea, but all her contacts have been cut off.

On a larger scale, ten percent of international marriages in Korea result in the wife leaving their home, leading to growing concerns about the possibility of scams in pre-arranged and signing marriage contracts with brokers and foreign women.

The majority of international marriages are carried out by Korean men who have come of age due to their occupation or lack of luck with Korean females.

Southeastern women, on the other hand, hope for an escape from their usually unsatisfactory economic lifestyle in their home country.

With the growing gender disparity in Korea, a considerable number of men will be incapable of finding a match with the minority of women present, resulting in several of them appealing to the foreign community.

Despite the multiple frauds that men face when finding potential wives, countless foreign women have also faced the dangers of international marriages.

They often find themselves in physically and psychologically abusive relationships despite having high expectations of living in South Korea.

To illustrate, CNN reported that more than forty-two percent of women in an international relationship in Korea faced abuse.

The majority of international marriages are arranged through agencies, with women sometimes feeling “bought” by Korean men, leading to perceptions of male superiority in such relationships.

The short time spent between individuals in these arrangements often results in a lack of emotional connection, fostering corruption within marriage agencies.

The Korean government has initiated efforts to mediate fraud and protect the rights of foreigners through the Act on Regulation of Marriage Brokerage Agencies.

This legislation mandates agencies to comply with laws in local jurisdictions and prohibits the promotion of human trafficking or human rights violations.

However, this regulation still remains feeble in comparison to the ongoing affairs, and the government requires additional regulations on the process of international marriage to effectively promote a healthy affair between foreigners and South Korean citizens.

Especially when seeking to increase birth rates in South Korea from the current, critically low rate of 0.84 children per woman, the South Korean government needs an effective yet not abused ordinance over the country.

Catherine Kang

Grade 11

Yongsan International School of Seoul