A view of Uijeongbu District Court located in Ganeung-dong, Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province. (Yonhap)
UIJEONGBU, Aug. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — A South Korean appeals court has upheld fines for two marriage brokers who illegally shared personal information of Vietnamese women with male clients via KakaoTalk, ruling the act violated the country’s marriage brokerage law.
On August 15, the Uijeongbu District Court dismissed the appeals of two individuals, identified as A and B, affirming the initial fines of 2 million won (approx. $1,500) and 1 million won, respectively. The court, however, overturned the conviction of a third defendant, C, who had previously been fined 2 million won, ruling that C was not legally liable under the relevant statute.
The three were affiliated with a South Korean international marriage brokerage agency. C was the de facto head of the company, A was C’s spouse, and B an employee. In March 2020, they received a USB drive from a partner agency in Vietnam containing photographs, height, weight, and other physical data of Vietnamese women.
According to court documents, the brokers used the data to solicit Korean male clients via the company’s website and sent the women’s photos and information through one-on-one KakaoTalk messages after clients signed up in May and July of 2021.
The lower court found the advertisements to be in violation of Articles 12 and 26 of the Marriage Brokerage Business Act, citing concerns over human rights violations and discriminatory content based on race, nationality, gender, and other factors.
During the appeal, the defendants argued they did not consider the KakaoTalk messages to constitute advertisements. However, the court dismissed this claim, stating that the messaging fell clearly within the definition of advertising under enforcement regulations and that ignorance of the law does not absolve responsibility.
C was acquitted on the grounds that, while effectively running the business, they were not officially registered as a marriage broker under the law. The court sided with the defense’s argument that only registered entities are subject to penalties under the Marriage Brokerage Business Act.
“The prosecution treated the defendant C as a marriage broker in its legal filings, but it has been determined that C is not legally recognized as such,” the court stated in its ruling.
The case underscores the evolving scrutiny of international marriage agencies in South Korea and highlights ongoing legal debates about liability and regulation in an industry increasingly criticized for ethical lapses and human rights concerns.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
