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Koreans' perception of family is changing as marriage to foreigners becomes more common. According to the National Statistical Office, there were some 40,000 international marriages in 2007, accounting for 11 percent of all marriages. That means one out of nine couples are of different nationality, three times more than in 2000. Nearly 40 percent of farmers and fishermen are now finding brides overseas.
Most of the migrant brides come to Korea dreaming of a better life, but the reality is often a disappointment. Last year, the call center run by the Emergency Support Center for Migrant Women received 33,550 complaints.
The language barrier was the most common source of conflicts with 34.7 percent, and 20.4 percent asked for legal help with divorce and custody of children. Some 18 percent reported conflicts with in-laws, and 16 percent struggled with visa renewal.
Conflicts with the husband were reported by 11.7 and domestic violence by 11.6 percent, while 5.3 percent ran away from home. Most of the women who sought help from the call center experienced one or two problems in addition to the language problem.
The rise of such problems led to a decline in international marriages in 2005, but the number of divorces of such couples tripled from 3,000 in 2004 to 9,000 in 2007. The number of divorces where the husband was Korean and the wife foreign jumped from 1,600 in 2001 to 5,800 in 2007. That is enough to amount to a social problem.
The average period recently divorced international couples had been together was 3.3 years. The number of divorced couples with children -- 781 cases in 2007 -- more than doubled from 2004.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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