Marriage through international matchmaking, 10% separate... 5.7 days from blind date to marriage

90.7% Responded They Continue Married Life
76% Responded They Ended Marriage Within 1 Year
Majority Koreans in Their 40s, Foreigners in Their 20s
Average Korean Marriage Brokerage Fee 13.72 Million KRW

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] It has been revealed that 10% of couples who enter into international marriages through marriage brokerage agencies are in a state of marital interruption. The average time from matchmaking to the wedding ceremony was 5.7 days.

On the 1st, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced the results of a survey conducted from 2017 to 2019 targeting marriage brokerage agencies and users.

When asked whether they were living with the spouse they married through a marriage brokerage agency, 90.7% responded that they were continuing their married life. Others answered that they were in a state of marital interruption such as divorce (5.4%), runaway (2.9%), and separation (0.9%).

Among those who answered that they were in a state of marital interruption, 76.8% said the period until marital interruption was 'within one year.' The reasons for marital interruption differed significantly between Korean and foreign spouses. Korean spouses cited ▲personality differences (29.3%) ▲unknown reasons (24.8%) in order, while foreign spouses answered ▲communication difficulties (49.7%) ▲employment purposes (42.7%).

The period from matchmaking to the wedding ceremony was only 5.7 days. More than 40% held their wedding within 1 to 3 days after local matchmaking. It took an average of 4.3 months to register the marriage and 3.8 months for the spouse to enter the country. The Korean spouse bears the round-trip airfare and matchmaking/wedding costs, and it takes about 8 months after the wedding ceremony to receive Korean language education and obtain related documents such as visas.

Since the wedding ceremony is held in a situation where it is difficult to properly understand each other, it is interpreted that divorce occurs within one year. A Ministry of Gender Equality and Family official said, "Taking 5.7 days until the wedding ceremony is too short, and it is difficult to build mutual trust, so we plan to prepare improvement measures regarding this part."

The majority of Koreans seeking international marriage brokerage agencies are in their 40s, accounting for 61.3%, followed by those in their 50s at 20.6%. Those under 39 years old make up 18%. Most are first marriages (86.1%), and remarriages account for 13.8%. Among foreigners, the largest age group is 19-24 years old at 46.3%, followed by 25-29 years old at 33.2%, and 30-34 years old at 14.2%. The countries of origin are Vietnam (83.5%) most, followed by Cambodia (6.8%), Uzbekistan (2.7%), and China (2.3%).

The marriage brokerage fee for Korean spouses, including round-trip airfare and matchmaking/wedding costs, averages 13.72 million KRW, while foreign spouses pay 690,000 KRW as a marriage success fee to agents in their country of origin. The marriage brokerage fee for Korean spouses varies by country of origin: ▲Uzbekistan 23.65 million KRW ▲Cambodia 13.44 million KRW ▲Vietnam 13.20 million KRW ▲China 11.74 million KRW.

The most common matchmaking method was one-on-one meetings with several people in a short period, accounting for 52.2%. 'One-to-many matchmaking' decreased by 23.8 percentage points to 7.5% compared to the 2014 survey. A Ministry official explained, "One-to-many or many-to-many matchmaking is a human rights-violating matchmaking and is prohibited by the Marriage Brokerage Business Act."

Both sides responded that they received essential personal information such as marriage, health, criminal record, and occupation at a rate of over 90%. Information about education and family relationships was also exchanged at a rate of over 90%. Regarding experiences of damage from international marriage brokerage, Koreans cited 'post-management discontinuation after spouse's entry (13.7%)', and foreign spouses cited 'exaggerated advertising (6.8%)'.

The average number of matchmaking arrangements over the past three years was 6.4. The average annual contract and marriage success cases of international marriage brokerage agencies were 4.9, with most contractees resulting in marriage (4.2). There were a total of 57 administrative sanctions for violations of the Marriage Brokerage Business Act in the past three years, mostly for violations such as failure to provide personal information.

Based on this survey, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family plans to revise the regulation that required one-time education before registration to require regular education during business operations to enhance multicultural sensitivity among international marriage brokers. They also plan to push for legal amendments to punish false and exaggerated online advertisements by unregistered agencies.

Currently registered marriage brokerage agencies are subject to business suspension and criminal penalties of up to three years imprisonment or fines up to 30 million KRW if they display false or exaggerated advertisements using facial features, height, weight, etc., according to the Enforcement Rules of the Marriage Brokerage Business Act since January this year.

The Ministry plans to explore ways for marriage brokers to connect foreign spouses to multicultural family support centers near their residences to provide initial support after their entry. They will investigate violations of the Marriage Brokerage Business Act by marriage brokers through the international marriage immigration office in Vietnam, where many marriage immigrants reside, and strengthen monitoring of human rights violations by enhancing the effectiveness of prior provision of personal information.

Minister of Gender Equality and Family Jeong Young-ae stated, "We will strengthen crackdowns on illegal activities in marriage brokerage to prevent human rights violations and user damages during the marriage brokerage process, and expand education to improve the qualifications of marriage brokers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.