The times, they are a changin.’ Courtesy the Joongang Ilbo:
With growing economic discontent in the country, the numbers of “getaway international marriages” is on the rise. An increasing number of well-educated professionals who want out are looking for Southeast Asian, Chinese and Russian women to marry so they can emigrate to those countries. In the past, the flow here has been in the other direction: Korean farmers have married foreign women and brought them here because most Korean women shun a rural life.
A marriage agency in Incheon has helped 200 men emigrate to foreign countries in the past six years. Recently, there has been growing number of inquiries on living in Malaysia, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, and Vietnam. About ten inquires per day are from men looking to marry and move to those countries, and two or three Korean men per month tie the knot. A man who said he was only “Mr. Kim,” 43, from Incheon, plans to visit Kazakhstan later this month to seek a bride. He said he wants a college graduate who speaks English well. Divorced three years ago, Mr. Kim retired early from a conglomerate job during the financial crisis. He said, “It’s virtually impossible to find a new job at my age, and I dabbled in businesses, but I’m worried that I might fritter my money away. So I decided to find a foreign wife and live a comfortable life abroad.”
At South Korean consulates, questions about marriage procedures are increasing. “If I marry a local women, will I be able to obtain citizenship or residency?” and “Will I be able to become legally employed here?” are the two most common.
