International Marriage Rate Up in Rural Areas

One out of four men in farming and fishing villages is married to a foreign woman.

It is said that this is mainly due to Korean women’s reluctance to marry men in farming and fishing villages.

The Korea National Statistics Office said on June 27 that the international marriage rate of Korean men working in the farming and fishing industry reached 1,814 last year, accounting for 27.4 percent of the total marriages of Korean men in the farming and fishing industry.

Considering that the number of international marriages last year was 25,594, or 8.2 percent of the total number of marriages (310,994), the percentage of international marriages of fishermen and farmers is almost 3.3 times the average international marriage rate.

Last year, the nationality of foreign women to marry Korean fishermen and farmers included China (879), Vietnam (560), the Philippines (195), Mongolia (54), Thailand (34), Uzbekistan (25), and Cambodia (15).

It was found that 269 Korean men from south Jeolla Province married foreign women, followed by north Gyeongsang (256), south Chungcheong (243), Gyeonggi (223), north Jeolla (213), and south Gyeongsang (168).

Meanwhile, as prejudices against international marriage have fallen, the number of Korean men marrying foreign women has gradually increased from 16,000 in 2001, 11,027 in 2002, 19,214 in 2003, and 25,594 in 2004. Also, the number of Korean women marrying foreign men has grown from 5,228 in 2001 to 9,853 in 2004.

legman@donga.com