A striking trend has emerged in South Korea, with a sharp rise in the number of Korean women marrying Vietnamese men. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEJONG, Mar. 21 (Korea Bizwire) – A striking trend has emerged in South Korea, with a sharp rise in the number of Korean women marrying Vietnamese men, prompting scrutiny into the underlying factors driving this phenomenon.
Many of these Korean women were previously married to Korean men who had obtained South Korean citizenship after immigrating from Vietnam. As domestic marriages decline and international unions increase, a portion of these cross-border marriages can be attributed to the ripple effects of earlier international couplings.
According to the 2023 Marriage and Divorce Statistics released on March 20 by Statistics Korea, last year saw 20,000 marriages between Koreans and foreigners, a significant increase of 3,000 (18.3%) from the previous year. While the number of international marriages peaked at 24,000 in 2019 before plummeting to 13,000 in 2021 due to the pandemic, the recent uptick signals a resurgence.
Boosted by the rise in international unions, last year’s overall marriage figures rebounded by 2,000 compared to the previous year, marking the first increase since 2011 (0.9%) after 12 years of decline. In contrast, marriages between Korean nationals decreased by 1,000 from the prior year.
Korean men marrying foreign women continue to drive the surge, with 15,000 such marriages last year, up 22.5% from 2021. Vietnamese brides accounted for the largest share at 33.5%, followed by Chinese (18.1%) and Thai (13.7%) nationals. The year-over-year increase was most pronounced for Vietnamese (48.3%), Chinese (16.9%), and Thai (4.4%) brides.
There were 5,000 marriages between Korean women and foreign men last year, a 7.5% increase from 2021 and the first time this figure exceeded 5,000 since 2019 (5,956) before the pandemic.
American men represented the highest proportion of foreign grooms at 27.7%, followed by Chinese (18.4%) and Vietnamese (15.8%) nationals. While marriages with American (0.4%) and Chinese (22.8%) grooms increased, the rise was most notable for Vietnamese grooms at 35.2%.
Over the past decade, marriages between Korean women and men from countries like the United States, China, and Canada have all declined, making the surge in unions with Vietnamese grooms particularly striking. In 2014, only 283 Korean women married Vietnamese men, but by 2024 that figure had almost tripled to 792.
Conversely, marriages between Korean women and American (1,748 to 1,386), Chinese (1,579 to 921), Canadian (481 to 281), and Australian (249 to 158) men all decreased over the same period.
A significant portion of the Korean women marrying Vietnamese men are believed to be Vietnam-born individuals who previously obtained South Korean citizenship through marriage to Korean men before remarrying Vietnamese nationals. Statistics Korea’s 2022 microdata reveals that among 556 Korean women remarrying Vietnamese men, 482 (86.7%) were naturalized citizens, with all 480 originally holding Vietnamese citizenship.
While international marriages are on the rise, a portion can be attributed to the aftereffects of earlier divorces involving foreigners. Although overall divorce figures are declining, divorces between Koreans and foreigners continue to climb, reaching 6,000 last year, up 300 (5.1%) from 2021, even as the total number of divorces fell by 800 to 92,000.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
