Divorces down, marriages up

Buoyed by a boom in international marriages and more remarriages, the number of couples who tied the knot in Korea last year has increased for the first time in the past eight years, while the number of those getting divorced has dropped for the first time in 16 years, statistics show.

About 310,000 marriages were reported to the authorities last year, which means an average 849 couples took the vows each day, an increase by 2 percent from the previous year. On the other hand, about 139,000 couples divorced last year, an average 381 couples each day. It was a decrease by more than 16 percent from 2003.

According to the statistics on marriages and divorces in Korea released by the National Statistical Office yesterday, marriages between Koreans and foreigners showed a remarkable 38.2 percent rise last year while marriages between divorced people increased by 11.9 percent.

A total of 35,000 international marriages and 67,000 remarriages were reported.

"While the number of first-time marriages continued to show a decline, international marriages and remarriages shot up, propping up the overall marriage figure," Jung Chang-shin, a NSO official, said.

"International marriages have been growing steadily for the past few years. But this year`s big jump can be explained, partly, by eased procedures (that went into effect in July 2003)," he said.

The statistics show that marriages to foreign brides have increased by 33.2 percent last year and those to foreign men by 52.9 percent.

By nationality, marriages involving a Chinese national topped the list with 5,154 cases of marriages to a Chinese bride and 2,422 to a Chinese groom. It was an increase by 38.5 percent and 202 percent, respectively.

Vietnamese brides followed China with 1,059 cases, showing a 75.5 percent increase from last year. Third on the list were Japanese brides with 1,224 cases.

Among the foreigners Korean women got married to, Japanese and Americans were second and third after Chinese.

(milaya@heraldm.com)











By Lee Sun-young