Asian brides for sale | 101 East

South Korea is traditionally a homogenous society but a declining birthrate and the shortage of women here has led to a dramatic increase in the number of South Korean men choosing to marry foreign brides while some of these unions do succeed it has led to an escalation in the number of sex trafficking domestic violence and suicide cases I'm Kathy Hearn on this edition of 101 East we take a look at South Korea's booming industry in mail-order brides [Music] Korean women have no longer wanted to do this housework elderly care work childcare work that they used to do [Music] when people get married in Korea there are many restrictions on the women we're expected to do all the housework and take care of the mother-in-law [Music] and that's how Korean man through agencies brokers look for brides [Music] forty-five-year-old businessman sanguine Park is a man on a mission Park is looking for a wife but in his hometown of pea goo a few hours drive south of Seoul there's a shortage of available women Korean women are nice but their expectations are so high and they are too focused on a man's occupation and social status they also have a tendency to ignore their husbands and be headstrong beomsu Jang is also a client at the number one marriage agency he's a web designer who runs his own business from home to God Union tomahto so when I go on dates with Korean women they want to know if I have a stable income rather than looking at what kind of person I am these things put me off another contributing factor is Korean television dramas the hero is always depicted as perfect so our women want someone close to that ideal image to put it positively I could say our women have developed high standards but to put it negatively I'd say they're simply too fussy they are also simply too few there's a significant gender gap in Korea due to a traditional preference for sons and the gap has widened further with falling fertility rates and more women choosing to focus on their careers instead of saying I due to marriage they want autonomy they want independence so Korean man looking into four countries in Southeast Asia where these three type women as more docile or subservient to the man mommy more romantic poisoning at first I was quite skeptical because I heard and read a lot of negative things about these multicultural marriages but slowly I changed my mind after seeing many happy mixed couples government statistics show international marriages in Korea have increased dramatically especially in rural areas where one in three men now has a foreign bride it's a lucrative industry for marriage brokers like hai Wong choy who start the process by showing clients photos of available woman all of them have undergone medical tests to prove they are mentally and physically healthy the broker then arranges a short overseas tour for the men to meet a selection of prospective brides once the two people come to an agreement the bride's medical check-up is done one more time just to make sure then a simple wedding ceremony is held after the ceremony the groom comes back to Korea and it's our time to get busy because we need to prepare the immigration paperwork Korean men pay around ten thousand dollars to meet young women from poorer countries including is Becky Stan Vietnam and the Philippines what I handle a case I treat my client like my own family or even as if I'm getting married myself I see it through each and every step of the process to make sure the pair is suitable for each other it was his older brothers arranged marriage to a Vietnamese woman that inspired Choi to open his own matchmaking agency Choi's brother hi song is a factory forklift driver he said it was only after his 43rd birthday that he decided to look for a wife he met 24-year old new auntie lon through an international marriage broker agency eternal woman was him one name where you sit there and what's up there yeah at first it was carelessness in my 20s and 30s it never occurred to me to look for a wife when I realized it was about time to get married I was already a bit old I went for a few blind dates but it wasn't really working my brother wasn't good at dating women he should have been more proactive he doesn't know how to appeal to women and he doesn't even try to please them not surprisingly he went way past his marrying age it was the only logical choice for him to go for an international marriage on the first day I was quite reluctant to choose my present wife because she was too young but after speaking to her I thought she was okay yes at first we were strangers but we became good together the relationship has grown stronger it's been three years since I became a mother and I have matured a lot but now later despite their nearly 20-year age gap and cultural differences the couple appear happy and say their daughter soo-bin has brought them even closer together but as I was talking to her with the interpreters help I suddenly had a feeling that she was the right one hi song says his life has changed for the better but it wasn't so easy for his young wife who had to learn a new culture and a new language [Laughter] it was difficult when I first came here I didn't speak any Korean and it was so different from Vietnam so it was very hard for me professor Jacqueline Aquino cioppino has written many papers on mixed marriages she says not all cross-border unions are successful as the TOI family and she believes there's an element of racism and xenophobia in Korea towards Southeast Asian countries there's very little understanding of Southeast Asia in Korea my students often tell me that they're shocked to find out that the Philippines and Vietnam and Indonesia is so close to them because basically the orientation is towards the United States and Japan the government says it's working on improving relations between new immigrants and Korean society multicultural families don't live on their own so they need to adapt to the Korean community so that Korean families accept them as neighbors this takes a lot of effort and a lot of times as many people are skeptical of these ideas but professor siapro believes the communication is one-sided there is very little in the system that is set up to make them succeed to make this so-called multicultural marriages succeed because their understanding of multiculturalism - I think is very superficial it's about the Southeast Asian woman assimilating it's hardly about the Korean learning about getting this history it's always one way it's a challenge for a society where foreigners were traditionally seen as invaders and treated with suspicion but today over a hundred and forty thousand women have settled in Korea as foreign brides many come from Southeast Asia particularly Vietnam [Music] [Applause] [Music] nineteen-year-old no auntie ha lives in a small village in high farm 3 hour south of noise she made her Korean husband to a neighbor who works as a matchmaker they tell me in the place where I live there are six or seven fallen brights for my street and one next door to me I also have one classmate who married a Korean I think it's become quite a popular thing to do new aunty ha wanted to go to university but her parents said it was not for girls she should find a job I have a lot of dreams I dream about going to university and traveling overseas I didn't expect to marry a Korean men we met each other through the matchmaker she lives near my house I asked him a lot of questions through the interpreter I can't be sure if he told the truth but I have a good feeling about him and I trust him within two days of meeting 36 year old Joe Boylan [ __ ] the couple were married they went on honeymoon with two other mixed couples also arranged by the matchmaker and they shared a bilingual dictionary in order to communicate after the wedding he went back to Korea and registered with one of the text message translation companies so we can text each other in our languages and that makes it easier for us nagoya and t ha is waiting for her immigration papers before she can join her husband in korea she's looking forward to her new life but she might not be welcomed by everyone despite the government's support for multiculturalism many still disagree with it it wasn't John where time not them time it is an inadequate government policy and there are many loopholes were hung Kuen and multiculturalism has no place in Korea and it does not fit Koreans they have no business to approve or disapprove of our marriage it's my personal life whether it's a multicultural home or not as long as we live without breaking the law who are they to approve or disapprove of our life [Music] [Applause] [Music] bachelor's sanguine Park and bong soo Jeong say South Korea is changing it is true in our society Vietnamese Brides were looked down on but I think it has improved a lot I have nothing to feel embarrassed about it's my right to choose to marry a Vietnamese woman I'm not affected by what people say on the contrary my friends and relatives will be happy for me to live with someone so young and pretty they will even be jealous of me over a traditional South Korean meal the prospective husbands were more forthcoming about their difficulties in meeting Korean women bong says there's even a name for this phenomenon a $4,000 condition before the woman chooses a man they specify the man must earn at least $4,000 a month here in Daegu city not many of us who make that much money anyone our age who has been working in a design office for 10 years makes about $2,000 but we work hard and do our best I think Korean women should look at the person first but they don't which makes it difficult for us [Music] [Applause] and having children is another priority if I were to marry a Korean woman I would have to choose someone in their 40s so this will pose a problem in terms of children I've helped so my yearning for children compels me to consider a young and healthy bride that's the reason why I prefer young Vietnamese or Southeast Asian Brides rather than a Korean bride it's an attitude the Korean government is actively encouraging in order to combat South Korea's lowest ever birth rate and an aging population but the policy is drawing criticism a lot of people question where's the love there are the romance because if you read a lot of the research on this or interview the women you find that they're serving husband serving the in-laws and are expected to take care of the mother-in-law and then they also to do reproductive labor besides the household labor and the farm labor and all the childcare the Sun even Alliance can lead to abuse last year of Vietnamese woman was stabbed to death by her mentally ill Korean husband just eight days after they Wed and in May this year a 23 year old Vietnamese woman died after being stabbed 53 times by her husband NGOs play matchmaking agencies for not doing enough background checks on their clients some Korean men think of their foreign bright as a possession they tend to humiliate them and ignore their human dignity which leads to verbal and physical abuse both born rule runs a shelter for migrant woman inside a church in downtown Peggy open 24 hours a day it's the first refuge for foreign brides fleeing violent husbands a survey in 2008 from the Korea Institute of Health & Society showed almost 30 percent of foreign brides had experienced either verbal or physical abuse from their husbands saying fun tweet experience both she says her alcoholic husband used to beat and rape her after she fell pregnant with her second child she was so afraid she would lose the baby that she fled to the shelter leaving her firstborn behind if I have to live with my husband I don't know what will happen with my life you may be in danger he drinks all the times so sometimes he does things and it's out of control and I feel unsafe while you were young mrs. harden the increase in abuse of foreign wives in Korea has invoked international criticism over human rights abuses and links with sex traffickers shirani her name so I feel as long as they think of them as a sex toy and not as a wife this problem will never end this is a serious problem that a country needs to think about South Korea is trying to reform the international matchmaking industry and has set up centers around the country to help foreign brides and trouble the woman are given accommodation the shelter helps them look for work and apply for Korean citizenship but it's a long process my life isn't happy that's why I can't help my family my mom is sick all the time and I can't do anything to help her and I miss my family so much I've been so sad that I can't do anything to help them sometimes I want to talk with my mom and share my problems but I'm afraid they're worrying will make her more new so I don't tell her but instead of returning home off to the end of their marriages many foreign women choose to stay in Korea and raise their children as Koreans now that I've started working and have money to buy milk and nappies for the children live is better than in Vietnam some people are lucky and get it to have a good husband sometimes with our husband life can be said but our children still bring us happiness now a Kamehameha day in Vietnam sometimes life is okay it's a love and it's not if my mum needs to go to the hospital then who will help her financially that's why I came here to marry a Korean man I thought I could have money to support my children and my family if you look at the breakdown how much economic and also social remittances descend it's it's really amazing they end up sending enough money to build homes for their families in Vietnam also paying for health care for their aging parents they're basically doing the work that the state is supposed to do not only in Korea but in their home countries today aristocracy I want to stay here because I have to raise my child she is a Korean even though I am an immigrant I want to raise my daughter here because even without a father she can live happily with me for know auntie ha the idea of moving to a new country is a dream come true but she does worry that her marriage might not work out and when they are singing with a little MCC I think about that a lot I don't know what I can do to prevent this but I trust that my husband would not lie to me like but I do have some doubt in my heart in life what you imagine and what actually happens is often not the same thing but I've seen a lot of couples they do have a good life and although annuity heart doesn't know what her married life will be like she is determined to make the best of it from the old guys from our talks together we realize we have similar ideas both of us won lots of children but he wants girls in a like boys my husband sells fish but he wants me to take his job so he can move to an office job so we can provide a better life for our children he also says he will not force me to stay with my mother-in-law but I'm not sure if I want to sell fish as more foreign women moved to Korea the support network grows giving them a better understanding of their legal rights Tom get some wood I know he did it cause her name is all in Korea once you start living with a Korean husband you become eligible for permanent resident status of the two years some women once they have this legal protection will then no longer tolerate abuse by their husbands and they will fight back like any other Korean woman would do they would even ask for divorce if they decide their husband will not change the failure of more international marriages is not unusual is part of the painful process that allows women to regain their rights but some analysts say unsuccessful mixed marriages could damage relations between Vietnam and South Korea in March this year the Korean government passed a new world that gives better support and protection to multicultural families but not everyone agrees with this new legislation [Music] 60 year old widower Cho Don Juan says it's Korean men who could end up his victims pre-war Kagura llamas 30 percent of international marriages end up in divorce some women run away to live with their lovers and even when you catch them and take them to the immigration office the offices are the pressure from human rights organizations there are more than 300 human rights groups protecting foreign rights but they hadn't and supporting Korean men's human rights Choi dong Quan says some foreign women use marriage as a way to get Korean citizenship and will lie and cheat to get what they want he set up a website to record the stories of unions that didn't end happily ever after today our isn't individual Korea is a very conservative country for a man to be subjected to this kind of scam is so humiliating there are people who are reluctant to come out openly and even if they go to a journalist to report the incident the journalist will be edited due to the fear they'll be blacklisted by the government that's one of the reasons why it's not well known the government confirms some foreign brides are using marriage to gain citizenship and in response they have tightened the laws on marriage brokers only officially registered companies are allowed to broker marriages we also have cooperative agreements drawn up with the Philippine and Vietnamese embassies to monitor and control legitimate processes nowadays you need a complete training that's organized by the government and you need a proper office and you need to take out compulsory insurance if a client suffers financial loss due to our negligence then they can be paid by insurance companies up to 50 thousand US dollars [Music] to help foreign brides assimilate in Korea the government has set up support centers no auntie LAN is attending a Korean music class of the dongseong community welfare center it's a chance for her to improve her language skills and spend time with other foreign brides [Music] each bride has a Korean chaperone to help with the simulation I like coming to these classes because I enjoy singing so much [Music] [Applause] the center's also try to help children from mixed marriages so they don't face discrimination trouble yeah I worry a fair bit about that possibility I am afraid my child will be left out but I do feel that our country is changing but the statistics show children of mixed marriages are struggling at school with close to 25% dropping out it's something the government is trying to address be cool we need hold her down cocked on her go in the country we have 200 support centres for multicultural families teachers visit their homes and teach Korean language skills to mothers and children they also teach mothers how to raise their children in Korean society and how to be a good parent while the government looks at the big picture these prospective grooms are excited about the impending marriages Park has high hopes that he will soon meet his future wife I am optimistic that by the third day I will have met someone I like there will be many to choose from and I'm sure most of them will look attractive to me up until now I've only been used to seeing Korean ladies in their 40s so this could be a breath of fresh air of course I won't only go for the looks I will also look at their personality Bom Sue's first trip was successful and he'll soon return to Vietnam to collect his new bride although they've only known each other a few days he is confident they union will last I was taught that it takes just 3 seconds for a person to decide whether one likes that person or not and my first impression was so nice I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I almost cried during our wedding although I'm normally such a macho man you might say I am exaggerating but I felt a lot of emotion for my bride [Music] [Applause] whatever the risks and uncertainties growing numbers of Korean men are choosing to marry foreign brides in the hopes of living happily ever after a choice that is permanently changing the face of Korean society [Music] [Applause] you

Channel: Al Jazeera English

Views: 1,558,579

Rating: 4.5563784 out of 5

Keywords: violence, Sex Trafficking, 101east, aljazeera, South Korea, al jazeera, aljazeera english, al jazeera english, South Korean men, mail-order brides, Asian brides for sale, Asian brides, brides for sale, brides, for sale, 101 East, marriage, asia, Korean government, foreign brides, interracial marriage, abuse, divorce, vietnamese, groom, love marriage, rural areas, north south korea, groom and bride dance, japanese groom, korean groom, al jazeera South Korea

Id: jqh3EZDRLa8

Length: 25min 0sec (1500 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 22 2011

Reddit Comments

[u/Deuceton]

Alot of stories of vietnamese women jumping off buildings with their babies due to bad treatment. Like them fuckers passing wives for their village to share. Sad world.