"One in Three Sets of Triplets Divorce Within 5 Years"… Korean Husbands in Their 50s-60s and Foreign Wives in Their 20s-30s [The Reality of International Marriage]

Complicated Visa Procedures Make Information Hard to Access
Marriage Visa Management Divided Between Two Agencies
Marriages Between Older Men and Younger Women Highlight Generational and Cultural Gaps
Average Duration of International Marriages Only 10 Years

Editor's NoteAlthough the rate of international marriages in South Korea has surpassed 10% of all marriages, becoming a common trend, various side effects continue to emerge. Due to the failure to eradicate the practices of illegal brokerage agencies, controversies over transactional marriages and complaints of fraudulent marriages persist. The breakdown of multicultural families arising from this issue leads to educational problems for students. This article examines the unreasonable practices occurring in the international marriage brokerage market and explores the structural causes and possible solutions.

Divorce and breakdown in multicultural families born from international marriages are mainly attributed to conflicts surrounding the foreign spouse's marriage immigration visa. Since it is difficult for international marriage participants to obtain information on the complicated and stringent application process for marriage immigration visas, brokerage agencies that handle these procedures have flourished. In this process, illegal activities and fraud are rampant, so even if the international marriage succeeds, it often ends in divorce and family breakdown. The government, which should regulate this, has overlapping responsibilities across multiple departments, leaving international marriage participants in a blind spot where resolving issues is difficult.

Complex Visa Acquisition Process... Documents Exceed 200 Pages

Getty Images

According to the Ministry of Justice's Immigration and Foreign Policy Headquarters, foreign spouses who marry Koreans are eligible to apply for a marriage immigration visa (F-6) after registering their marriage in both Korea and their home country. The visa that foreign spouses receive immediately after marriage to enter Korea is the 'Spouse of a Korean National (F-6-1)' visa, a short-term visa valid for only 90 days. Foreign spouses holding this visa must enter Korea within three months; failure to do so results in immediate visa cancellation.

The F-6-1 visa is an invitation-type visa issued to Koreans inviting their spouses, so to extend the stay period, the foreign spouse must obtain an F-6 visa. To apply for the F-6 visa, the applicant must prove an annual pre-tax income of at least 23,590,000 KRW and have a fixed residence. The foreign spouse must also submit proof of Korean language proficiency, such as TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) Level 1 certification or a certificate of completion of a beginner Korean language course at a designated educational institution.

Once these requirements are met, the applicant must visit the immigration office in person to submit all necessary documents. These include visa application forms, invitation letters for the foreign spouse, marriage background statements, passports, identity guarantees, family relation certificates, marriage certificates, real estate registry copies, income certificates, Korean language proficiency proof, criminal records, health checkups, and more?totaling over 200 pages of various documents. This process inevitably takes considerable time, making it difficult for ordinary people engaged in their livelihoods to handle the paperwork themselves, thus creating a demand for agencies to act on their behalf.

Marriage Immigration Visa Management in a Blind Spot

As such, the marriage visa application process is complicated, and the management responsibilities are also divided in a complex manner. The marriage visa affairs handled domestically fall under the Ministry of Justice's Immigration and Foreign Policy Headquarters, but the visa application centers located abroad, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are responsible for processing the visas foreign spouses need to enter Korea. The various blind spots and interdepartmental conflicts arising here directly affect international marriage participants.

In particular, some visa application centers abroad suffer from poor management, creating opportunities for corruption in marriage visa issuance. Although most centers should be operated by the local embassy or consulate under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, if there is a shortage of personnel, staff from the Ministry of Justice may be dispatched, or in severe cases, local foreigners or employees of local travel agencies may be assigned. Administrative officer Hwang Seon-hoon pointed out, "In regions where management is inadequate, local civilians end up handling visa issuance tasks," adding, "There is a risk that these individuals might accept money from people who do not meet the marriage visa application requirements and engage in visa trading."

This creates room for illegal brokerage agencies to lure young local women into fraudulent marriages under the pretext of obtaining marriage visas. A representative from a marriage information agency lamented, "Local women who want to obtain a Korean residence visa are vulnerable to the temptation of fraudulent marriages," adding, "The marriage visa process itself is very difficult to understand, including where and how to start the procedures, and since marriage registration and related documents must be processed in both countries, illegal brokerage agencies find it easy to commit fraud under the guise of document handling. Strengthened crackdowns have also hurt legitimate brokerage businesses."

However, the departments that should be responsible for management are unaware of the actual situation regarding illegal brokerage agencies. A Ministry of Justice official said, "This is not under our jurisdiction." A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official responded, "I don't know much about it." A Ministry of Gender Equality and Family official replied, "The issue of illegal brokerage agencies falls under the jurisdiction of the respective local governments, not us."

Severe Combination of Generational, Cultural, and Information Gaps... Family Breakdown Deepens

The structure where mainly young foreign women marry older Korean men for the purpose of obtaining marriage visas has become entrenched, intensifying family breakdowns due to generational and cultural gaps.

According to the '2023 Marriage Brokerage Industry Survey' released last year by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, 55.7% of Korean men who married foreign women were aged 40-49, and 30.8% were 50 or older. Notably, the proportion of men aged 50 and above increased by 10.2 percentage points compared to 20.6% in 2020. In contrast, foreign women married to Korean men were mostly aged 19-29 (60.6%), followed by 30-34 (21.8%), and 35 or older (17.6%).

With cultural gaps already wide and significant generational differences, the divorce rate among multicultural families is also rising. As of 2023, the number of divorces among multicultural families through international marriage increased by 3.9 percentage points from the previous year to 8,158 cases. The proportion of multicultural divorces among all divorces (93,232 cases) also rose by 0.4 percentage points to 8.8%.

International marriage couples have shorter marriage durations compared to native couples. According to Statistics Korea, the average duration of marriage for multicultural families formed through international marriage is 10.1 years, shorter than the 16.8 years average for native couples. The proportion of marriages lasting less than five years is also twice as high for multicultural families (31.1%) compared to native couples (16.7%).