According to a study of international marriage and divorce by the Supreme Court of Korea on Sunday, of the total 337,528 marriages last year, 39,071 or 11.6 percent were international. An official from the Supreme Court of Korea said, "This means there's a lack of Korean women of marriageable age, or that they are avoiding marriage."

The nationality of foreign spouses varied among men and women. A total of 29,660 foreign women married Korean men last year: 14,450 from China, 9,812 from Vietnam, 1,131 from the Philippines, 559 from Mongolia, and 380 from Cambodia.

Meanwhile, 8,429 foreign men married Korean women last year: 3,732 from Japan, 2,590 from China, 1,432 from the U.S., 317 from Canada, 137 from England, 126 from Germany, and 95 from France.

As the number of international marriages rises, so does the number of international divorces, from 2,784 in 2003, to 3,315 in 2004, to 4,208 in 2005. The percentage of international divorces was only 1.6 percent of the total in 2003, but that figure reached 5 percent last year. While the total number of international marriages decreased last year by 4,744 cases, the number of divorces increased by quite a bit.

By region, the number of divorces was highest in Seoul with 1,859 cases, followed by 1,151 in Gyeonggi Province, 457 in Busan City, and 340 in South Gyeongsang Province.

Agricultural areas, however, showed a higher rate of international divorce. Jeju had the highest rate, with 7.91 percent of all divorces there international. Next was South Jeolla Province with 7.16 percent, North Gyeongsang Province with 5.72 percent, North Chungcheong Province with 5.69 percent, South Chungcheong Province with 5.52 percent, and North Jeolla Province with 5.40 percent.

(englishnews@chosun.com )