Matchmaker Sunwoo polled 301 unmarried Korean men and women as well as 240 unmarried Korean-Americans in Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and Washington (250 men and 291 women). It found that 42.9 percent of Korean bachelors had no interest in marrying a Korean-American woman. But only 27.9 percent of Korean women were similarly prejudiced against Korean-American men, with 29.9 percent saying they would rather like a Korean-American husband and another 42.2 percent saying a Korean-American husband would be OK - again bringing the total to the magical 72 percent.

Among Korean-American men, 27.2 percent expressed no interest at all in Korean women, while an even more robust 35.8 percent of Korean-American women had no interest whatsoever in Korean men. Some 38.8 percent of Korean-American men said a Korean wife would be good, and 34 percent she would be OK.

Why? Among the Korean women who wanted to marry Korean-American men, 45.7 percent said it would be nice to live abroad, while 17.4 percent said because it was a "global age." On the other hand, among the Korean-American men who dreamed of marrying a Korean woman, 27.5 percent said because "Korean women seem pure," while 22.5 percent said, “because we share the same culture."

When choosing their wives, Korean men prioritized physical appearance, followed by personality, socio-economic position and family environment. But Korean-Americans put personality at the top of the list, then physical appearance, followed by family environment and socio-economic circumstances.

Among women, both Korean and Korean-American women prioritized socio-economic position, followed by personality, family environment and physical appearance.

(englishnews@chosun.com )