The Dong-A Ilbo (South Korea)
“Marry a Vietnamese virgin girl”; “She’ll never run away”; “100-percent success in first-time marriages, remarriages, and marriages of the disabled”; “Fee payable by credit card after the wedding”; and “Full refund if the bride is not admitted to Korea.” The banners carrying these sales slogans are mostly gone, but were hung by international marriage brokers throughout Korea. In Southeast Asian nations including Vietnam and Cambodia, hostess bar-type meetings for marriage were arranged to give Korean men a chance to pick from among dozens of women. This practice was a truly rude act and insulting to the dozens of women who were not selected, their families, and their people.
The Cambodian government has temporarily suspended marriages between Cambodians and Koreans. In Cambodia, group matchmaking meetings are illegal and about 60 percent of partners in international marriages are Koreans. Such matchmaking practices can leave lasting scars in the minds of foreign women who want to marry Koreans to pursue their Korean dream. In many cases, marriage brokers give false or exaggerated information on the personal profiles and wealth of Korean suitors, often resulting in divorce and family trouble. This brings shame to Korea.
Korea is fast shifting into a multicultural and multiethnic society, with the number of people from foreign origins exceeding one million. Last year, 43,121 marriages, or 13.6 percent of the national total, involved one foreign spouse. In rural areas, where childbirth is low, international marriages have become so common, it is virtually impossible to maintain a community let alone families if not for foreign wives. Nevertheless, Korean society retains strong prejudice against foreign wives because of Koreans’ value on pure bloodline. A survey on multicultural families conducted by the Health, Welfare and Family Affairs Ministry found that 34.8 percent of foreign wives said they experienced discrimination because they are foreigners.
International marriage is expected to increase due to Korean women’s reluctance to marry men in rural areas and the prevailing trend of globalization and rising multiculturalism. If Koreans cannot open their minds to allow foreign immigrants to settle in their society, this country will inevitably face an unstable future. A society that closes itself to multicultural families and foreigners also does not live up to the national dignity of Korea, an economic powerhouse. Koreans must exercise the best of manners when bringing in foreign brides, and treat them as wives and daughters-in-law the same way they do for Koreans.
Editorial Writer Kwon Sun-taek (maypole@donga.com)
The Cambodian government has temporarily suspended marriages between Cambodians and Koreans. In Cambodia, group matchmaking meetings are illegal and about 60 percent of partners in international marriages are Koreans. Such matchmaking practices can leave lasting scars in the minds of foreign women who want to marry Koreans to pursue their Korean dream. In many cases, marriage brokers give false or exaggerated information on the personal profiles and wealth of Korean suitors, often resulting in divorce and family trouble. This brings shame to Korea.
Korea is fast shifting into a multicultural and multiethnic society, with the number of people from foreign origins exceeding one million. Last year, 43,121 marriages, or 13.6 percent of the national total, involved one foreign spouse. In rural areas, where childbirth is low, international marriages have become so common, it is virtually impossible to maintain a community let alone families if not for foreign wives. Nevertheless, Korean society retains strong prejudice against foreign wives because of Koreans’ value on pure bloodline. A survey on multicultural families conducted by the Health, Welfare and Family Affairs Ministry found that 34.8 percent of foreign wives said they experienced discrimination because they are foreigners.
International marriage is expected to increase due to Korean women’s reluctance to marry men in rural areas and the prevailing trend of globalization and rising multiculturalism. If Koreans cannot open their minds to allow foreign immigrants to settle in their society, this country will inevitably face an unstable future. A society that closes itself to multicultural families and foreigners also does not live up to the national dignity of Korea, an economic powerhouse. Koreans must exercise the best of manners when bringing in foreign brides, and treat them as wives and daughters-in-law the same way they do for Koreans.
Editorial Writer Kwon Sun-taek (maypole@donga.com)
5 comments:
Govt. - do you know that this is slave trade in the 21st century - whether women to be working on cleaning home's for foreigners (under pretext of advertizing, or a sex object to foreign men (under marriage advertizing), You are cooperating with foreigners to sale your own people that you suppose to protect!
Majority of govt. possition have many esteem title (or on top of that many gold star had been decorage for them), thus, live up to your title -- take care the people that you suppose to be governce...and protect!
Let's cut these Koreans' balls off.
Hay 4:31 Fm - the more balls you you cut, the more balls are coming! Because this part of the govt. policy to promote tourist. Whether they are Korean's balls or the EUs' balls, event the Japanese's balls are coming ... but at least these balls give Khmer girl the way to survive economically (not necessary mentally). Beside, I think the Khmer's balls even worse than foreigners' balls because Khmer's balls use and abuse Khmer's women and not event give them in dollars (in riel!). Sorry Khmer men's balls --- you have to make your balls worth more!!
Govt...give Khmer women's a freedom to choose which balls she want to earn her living from....
I just don't get it. Why Cambodian women want to get married with Korean men? Am I missing anything? i Am a Khmer and married woman, I'm so proud to say that I'm completed with my Khmer husband. He's good looking and treats me well.
Is it because there's more women than men in Cambodia? Is it? Please Cambodian women, listen to the government! Don't settle for less. You deserve better than Korean men. Beside it doesn't look good, when you have kids. EWW, Cambodian and Korean! It's just doesn't match. I think Cambodian government is stepping into the right directions.
Hay 2:35 am, I think the bottom line is not so much whether the men is good lookig or not...for majority of young women in this condition is boilling down to money! Whether the mother think that TV is worth more than her daughter's life? Which is very sad true for Khmer society as a whole -- where material display is more important to show to their relative and neighbors that they have a good life (event at the price of selling their daughter). The justification is that these marriage agencies must have been approved by the Cambodian govt. to operate as an intermediary business of marriage transaction agency. These mothers had been put trust on these agency to find a better husband. Of course, some Khmer husband(got drunk, and bit the wife and children up...some mother does not want her daughter to get marriage to khmer men an be abuse like her. Thus, she might find other alternative to find a better husband for her daughter, and at the same time get money to pay off her debt)...by the way 2:23 am, these women that are in this condition don't have a chance to smell the coffee the sense that you are talking about. You are talking about 80% of Khmer population who are living in the province, have little of education...want to escape poverty, domestic violence, abuse,....and get a way from where they are right now. One thing we have to keep in mind is that human being is always looking for better alternative in order to improve their living condition.
In the case of marriage condition for the Khmer women...there is an information asymetry between the Khmer's women that were already in these foreign countries and the women who are follow...most of these agency gone directly to these village to recruit these young girls...
All-in-all, I agreed with you on one point that Cambodian govt. is stepping on the right direction, but not on other points...
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