International marriages decreasing since 2005: report

SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- The number of marriages between South Koreans and foreign nationals has been decreasing since hitting a record high in 2005, a government research paper showed on Monday.

International marriages accounted for 11.1 percent of the total of South Korean
marriages in 2007, according to the government-funded Korean Women's Development
Institute.
The figure marked a decrease for the second year in a row, down from 11.9 percent
in 2006 and 13.6 percent in 2005.
The number of international marriages in South Korea started to surge drastically
in 2003, when the rate was 8.4 percent, compared to 5.2 percent in the previous
year.
Marriages of South Korean females and foreign husbands, which traditionally had
accounted for the larger portion of the total international marriages, was
surpassed in 1994 by those of South Korean males and foreign wives, with the
former having the rate of 0.8 and the latter 0.9 out of the total marriages.
There was also a growing trend of divorce in cross-border marriages, especially
of South Korean husbands and foreign wives.
According to the report, 5,794 couples of South Korean men and foreign national
women divorced last year, up from 4,010 in 2006 and 2,444 in 2005.
The breakup surged drastically in 2004 and 2005 with 1,611 and 2,444
respectively, from 583 in 2003.
The number of the divorced couples of South Korean females and foreign husbands
was 3,034 in 2007, following 2,270 in 2006 and 1,834 in 2005. It was a steady
increase from 2002 when the number was 1,465.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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