The Korea-Vietnam Cultural Exchange Center was established in 2007 to help educate Vietnamese brides on Korean culture. (image: Korea-Vietnam Cultural Exchange Center)
HANOI, May 23 (Korea Bizwire) — A class on Korean family culture has been launched in Vietnam to help educate local brides of their new lives in Korea.
The classes are intended to prevent daughter and mother-in-law conflicts, as a portion of Vietnamese wives end up living with their Korean in-laws.
Having run other classes for Vietnamese wives-to-be for 11 years, the Korea-Vietnam Cultural Exchange Center said it had opened classes specifically on the topic of “Korean in-laws” for the first time.
The classes, which kicked off in March this year, introduce basic etiquette that one must know in order to maintain amicable ties with their Korean in-laws.
Although previous classes had touched upon the matter, the new classes reflect the sentiment that conflicts between Vietnamese wives and their Korean in-laws have become a significant hurdle in the former’s efforts to settle down in Korea.
The class introduces a typical Korean household’s breakfast culture to Vietnamese wives, who are not usually expected to cook breakfast at home.
The lessons also teach future brides that it is impolite to sit with their legs outstretched on the floor in front of in-laws, or to eat while holding up their food plates.
Kim Yeong-sin, the center’s director, said that a fourth of the Vietnamese women who wed Korean men live with their elderly in-laws in the countryside.
The Korea-Vietnam Cultural Exchange Center was established in 2007 to help educate Vietnamese brides on Korean culture.
Around 25 women complete a two-week course each month, and over 1,500 Vietnamese women have completed the course thus far.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
