SEOUL, March 31 (UPI) -- Foreign brides are increasingly popular in South Korea, and 14 percent of all marriages in 2005 were with a foreign partner, the Korea Times reported Friday.
In rural areas, one out of three Korean men engaged in agriculture or fishery married women from overseas last year, the report said.
The figure reflects efforts by provincial governments to import brides for men with limited prospects due to age or financial status.
Women of Chinese nationality made up 66 percent of foreign brides overall. For Korean men in rural areas, Vietnamese brides were the most popular, accounting for half of the total overseas marriages, government statistics showed.
Among Korean women with international marriages, 42 percent of foreign husbands were Chinese, 30 percent Japanese, and just under 12 percent American.
Divorces with foreign spouses also increased by more than 25 percent in 2005. Nearly half of all Koreans who divorced their spouses cited character differences as the main cause.
