The number of foreign spouses who married Koreans as of June of this year totaled 155,255 people. (image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Sept. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — According to statistical data published yesterday by the government, Chinese and American nationals topped the number of international grooms who married Korean women, while Chinese and Vietnamese women were the most common foreign brides.
As per data released by the Korean Immigration Service, the number of foreign spouses who married Koreans as of June of this year totaled 155,255 people.
The number of foreign spouses increased by 12.2 percent from 125,087 persons in 2009 to 142,654 persons in 2010. The number surpassed the 150,000-mark in 2013 for the first time, and has continued to decrease in recent years.
Korean-Chinese men were the top choice as grooms for many Korean women (12,356 men) followed by Americans (2,618 men), Vietnamese (1,955 men), Japanese (1,229 men), and Canadians (1,114 men) in that order.
Likewise, Korean men were also most likely to choose Korean-Chinese women as their wives, totaling 45,521 women, followed by Vietnamese (39,506 women), Japanese (12,304 women), Filipinas (11,506) and Cambodians (4,247).
The number of foreign husbands was much lower than the number of international brides that married Korean men, with 25,788 men accounting for the foreign grooms and 129,467 women accounting for the foreign brides.
The greatest number of international brides and grooms were between 30 and 34 years of age.
Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province had the greatest number of foreign spouses (44,056 people) followed by Seoul (27,571 people), South Gyeongsang Province (10,250 people), Incheon (9,984 people) and South Chungcheong Province (8,197 people).
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
