Divorce Rates High for Korea's Migrant Brides

From VOA Learning English, this is As It Is. I'm Anna Matteo in Washington.

Marrying someone from a different culture is very common. People do it all the time. And many international marriage brokers earn large profits by playing matchmaker for people. But what happens when the marriage business starts to resemble the selling of women? Some experts are examining the situation of migrant brides in South Korea.

Tens of thousands of South Korean men have married foreign women over the past 10 years. However, the government reports that many of those marriages end in divorce. And women's rights experts are concerned about how these immigrant women are being treated. They are asking the Korean government to make rules for these marriages.

Lee Soo-yeon is a Vietnamese migrant bride. Six years ago, she left Vietnam to marry a South Korean man. Now 36-years old, she works as a translator at a center for immigrant women in Asan, a city 48 kilometers south of Seoul. She speaks Korean and uses a Korean name, but Ms. Lee is no longer with her Korean husband.

"At first we could not communicate well. And later we began to fight a lot. He hit me. I do not hate him now, but I realized he has a drinking problem"

The couple's young child now lives with Ms. Lee's mother-in-law. She says it is unlikely she will reunite with her husband. She blames the marriage agency that introduced them in Vietnam.

"Marriage agencies do not provide any information about the men they introduce to the women. We need to know more about these men, their personalities and their financial stability."

Divorces among international couples are on the rise. As a result, the South Korean government has made new rules for giving marriage visas. There are new financial requirements and the couple must demonstrate that they can actually talk to each other.

Chung Chin-sung is a sociology professor at Seoul National University. She advises the Korean government on multicultural family policy. She says a language requirement could help improve marriages. But, she adds, the new visa rules do not deal with the main problem of these marriages. She says women are being sold like a product.

"That kind of marriage market where, especially women, become a product, like a product, not a human being, should be corrected."

Ms. Chung suggests banning agencies that arrange quick marriages between people who barely know each other.

Jolly Regacho is a counselor at the Asan migrant center. She says if the South Korean government really wants to make stronger marriages, more education is important. The husband, she feels, should also learn about his wife's culture.

"They should also make a project for the husband to learn the culture of their wife as well."

Even with the break-up of her marriage, migrant bride Lee Soo-yeon says she does not plan to go back to Vietnam. She says Korea is her new home.

This report was written by VOA reporters in Korea, Jason Strother and Malte Kollenberg.

And I'm Anna Matteo.

What do you think about the situation of migrant brides and international marriages?

Do you think the Korean government should regulate this industry? Let us know in our comment section where you can share your opinions and discuss the issue with other listeners.

词汇解析

marriage

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

n.结婚;婚姻;紧密结合

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

It was a pleasant surprise to learn of her marriage.

得知她结婚是件令人惊喜的事。

A lichen is a compound organism, a symbiotic marriage of fungus and algae.

青苔是一种复合有机体，是真菌和水藻的共生结合体。

resemble

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

v.与…相似;像

参考例句

用作动词 (v.)

The brothers resemble each other in taste.

那对兄弟兴趣相似。

immigrant

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

n.移民;侨民

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

He admitted that he was an illegal immigrant.

他承认他是非法移民。

His father is of native Indian extraction and his mother an immigrant Italian.

他父亲有印第安土著血统，母亲是意大利侨民。

unlikely

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

adj.不太可能的

参考例句

用作形容词 (adj.)

The superpowers are unlikely to disarm completely.

超级大国不太可能彻底裁军。

But a spending bonanza is unlikely.

但是，应有尽有也不太可能。

agency

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

n.代理;代理处;政府机构

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

I hope we can see eye to eye about the other terms of the agency then.

我希望到那时候我们能在代理协议的其他条款上能取得一致意见。

The agent is the person who works for a government agency in secret.

特工人员是为政府部门秘密工作的人。

regulate

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

vt.调整;校准;管理;控制

参考例句

用作及物动词 (vt.)

Specification could be regulated as buyer's request.

指标可根据客户要求进行调整。