“I still remember when Japanese men came to South Korea to get married to beautiful but poor girls,” my Korean professor told the class, getting a little angry.
“Many South Korean women suffered and that upset Korean society at the time. So how can we let the same thing happen to women from other countries in our own country? It is a great shame that foreign women are treated in such an unethical way in Korea.”
“Does the Professor also care about the case of a Vietnamese bride who was mistreated and forced to abandon her children?” I asked hesitantly.
“Why not? I always see my past country in your country, and I see myself in people like you who come to study abroad. It hurts me to see people forgetting their past.”
My Vietnam has been long known as a heroic country which repelled its invaders. Now it is known for brides who accept being treated badly in foreign countries and illegal immigrants who try to escape the police.
There are many Korean men who ask, when they first meet me: “Do you know any beautiful, honest and unmarried girls you can introduce me to? I have a nephew/friend who is more than 40 who is looking for a wife.”
Is it so simple to find and marry a wife? My national self respect is bitten.
When thinking of my own country, I think of South Korea. The Korean government has been spending large sum of money to build up its national brand name on the international stage.
The concept of a country “brand” is often mentioned by Korean government media advisers. Unfortunately, there isn’t anyone who can calculate how much the deception in mixed marriages and the oppression of foreign brides can damage their country’s “brand.”
I remember a foreigner quoted by the Korea Times saying the courts dealt with divorce cases in less time than it took to flag down a taxi in the center of Seoul in the evening. Court cases are usually resolved very quickly, with Korean men with stables lives and jobs being awarded custody of their children.
The law in South Korea has changed and developed a lot, except for the fact that the women are not treated equally in divorce cases, the article said.
* The writer is studying a Ph.D. in public relations in Seoul, South Korea.
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