The number of Vietnamese men marrying Korean women has increased dramatically.

The number of Vietnamese men marrying South Koreans will increase by more than 35% in 2023, including many women who previously married local men.

Figures released by Statistics Korea last week showed that the country recorded 20,000 marriages between Korean citizens and foreigners last year, an 18% increase from the previous year.

These dual-national marriages account for more than 10% of all marriages in Korea. Vietnamese women marry Korean men the most among foreign brides, accounting for 33.5%, followed by Chinese at 18% and Thai at 14%. Many Vietnamese women choose to become naturalized Koreans after marrying a local husband.

Meanwhile, American men marrying Korean women are the most common, accounting for nearly 28%, followed by Chinese with more than 18%, and Vietnamese with 16%.

A couple shows affection at Seoul Station, South Korea, in 2020. Photo: AFP — A couple shows affection at Seoul Station, South Korea, in 2020. Photo: *AFP*

Although ranked third, the number of Vietnamese men marrying Korean women increased by more than 35% compared to the same period last year. Officials at the Korean Statistics Office said this was because more and more Vietnamese women married Korean men to obtain citizenship, then broke up and remarried Vietnamese men.

The number of Korean women marrying Vietnamese men for the second time increased from 420 in 2021 to 556 in 2022 and 752 last year. The number of divorces among multicultural couples increased by 5.1% to 6,000 in 2023.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the new figures raised concerns that Vietnamese women may want to marry Korean men just to get citizenship.

According to Chosun , many Korean men shared online about being abandoned by their Vietnamese wives. More than 300 such divorce cases were reported on social media in 2023.

"There are girls who already have boyfriends in Vietnam, but still marry Korean men to get citizenship and then remarry their boyfriends," said an international marriage company. "This problem is partly due to the fact that many Korean men think that marriage with Vietnamese women is a 'transactional' relationship and consider women as property."

Duc Trung (According to Yonhap, Chosun )

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