 The family of Thach Thi Hoang Ngoc, 20, the Vietnamese woman murdered by her 47-year-old mentally-unstable husband, cry in a hospital in the southern city of Busan before seeing her body, last week. Her family wants the Korean government to hold the killer accountable for the crime in accordance with Korean law. / Korea Times |
Staff reporter
Korea Times
Tragic death of Vietnamese woman prompts gov’t to act belatedly
The tragic death of the Vietnamese woman who was murdered by her mentally-ill husband eight days after arriving in Korea has the government belatedly scrambling to strengthen regulations on transnational marriage agencies.
The National Police Agency announced Sunday it will launch a month-long crackdown on illegal practices at such matchmaking companies, beginning today. The campaign will target unlicensed operations and the provision of false information on a partner's personal profile.
The move comes after Thach Thi Hoang Ngoc, 20, was killed on July 7 by her 47-year-old husband _ a man with a history of psychiatric illness. She did not know that her husband had been treated 57 times his condition since 2005.
Police are investigating why the matchmaking agency that brokered their meeting did not provide Thac with this information.
Punishment wanted
The victim's father, Thach Sang, wants his son-in-law to be punished according to Korean law. The family visited Korea last week to cremate their daughter's body and take her ashes back to Vietnam.
"I have not heard any news on how he is going to be penalized by the Korean government," he was quoted as saying by representatives from the Korean Embassy in Vietnam and Rep. Han Sun-kyo of the ruling Grand National Party who paid their respects at the cremation ceremony.
He thanked for Korean government's support and asked for humane treatment for married immigrants.
Han admitted that the married immigrants and their spouses lack understanding of each other's country and culture, and said he will come up with fundamental measures to root out illegal marriage brokers and promote happier multicultural marriages. "This case shocked the Korean government, the National Assembly and the entire nation. We will spare no efforts to prevent the recurrence of such an incident," Han told the parents.
In 2009, 33,300 Korean people married foreigners, more than double the 15,200 in 2002. Among the 135,800 multicultural spouses, 87 percent are women.
By nationality, Chinese, including ethnic Koreans from China, topped with 49 percent, followed by Vietnamese at 24 percent; Japanese, 8 percent; and Filipinas at 5 percent.
The figures show that men who can’t find a bride in Korea bring in women from China or Southeast Asia.
Effects doubted
Taking advantage of this, private marriage companies sprouted, many of which have no license. More than 1,200 firms are registered as brokers of interracial marriages as of 2009, but about 70 percent of them are very small including single-person enterprises.
These companies introduce some 40 to 50 foreign women to a Korean man, but often give false information.
In March, the Cambodian government temporarily banned Koreans from marrying Cambodian women after a broker was caught setting up meetings for a single Korean man with many women, which is prohibited by local law.
The government is coming up with measures to address the side-effects of such actions by brokerages.
The Gender Equality and Family Minister Paik Hee-young said the government will reinforce regulations on such firms.
"We revised the relevant law to ensure a correct personal profile is given in written form, and to provide education for both partners," Paik told Yonhap News.
The Ministry of Justice announced last week plans to enforce multicultural education for people who want to marry foreigners. The ministry is also considering restricting travel by those who have a history of mental illness, a criminal record of sexual violence, or who have married interracially more than three times.
However, some experts say that multicultural marriage problems will continue as long as Korean men fail to change their “wrong patriarchal mindset.”
"Men with the wrong perspective on women think they 'buy' those foreign brides and this is basically the same as human trafficking," an official of a civic organization helping married immigrants said. "We need to change the way we regard interracial marriage as the problems will continue otherwise."
meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr
The tragic death of the Vietnamese woman who was murdered by her mentally-ill husband eight days after arriving in Korea has the government belatedly scrambling to strengthen regulations on transnational marriage agencies.
The National Police Agency announced Sunday it will launch a month-long crackdown on illegal practices at such matchmaking companies, beginning today. The campaign will target unlicensed operations and the provision of false information on a partner's personal profile.
The move comes after Thach Thi Hoang Ngoc, 20, was killed on July 7 by her 47-year-old husband _ a man with a history of psychiatric illness. She did not know that her husband had been treated 57 times his condition since 2005.
Police are investigating why the matchmaking agency that brokered their meeting did not provide Thac with this information.
Punishment wanted
The victim's father, Thach Sang, wants his son-in-law to be punished according to Korean law. The family visited Korea last week to cremate their daughter's body and take her ashes back to Vietnam.
"I have not heard any news on how he is going to be penalized by the Korean government," he was quoted as saying by representatives from the Korean Embassy in Vietnam and Rep. Han Sun-kyo of the ruling Grand National Party who paid their respects at the cremation ceremony.
He thanked for Korean government's support and asked for humane treatment for married immigrants.
Han admitted that the married immigrants and their spouses lack understanding of each other's country and culture, and said he will come up with fundamental measures to root out illegal marriage brokers and promote happier multicultural marriages. "This case shocked the Korean government, the National Assembly and the entire nation. We will spare no efforts to prevent the recurrence of such an incident," Han told the parents.
In 2009, 33,300 Korean people married foreigners, more than double the 15,200 in 2002. Among the 135,800 multicultural spouses, 87 percent are women.
By nationality, Chinese, including ethnic Koreans from China, topped with 49 percent, followed by Vietnamese at 24 percent; Japanese, 8 percent; and Filipinas at 5 percent.
The figures show that men who can’t find a bride in Korea bring in women from China or Southeast Asia.
Effects doubted
Taking advantage of this, private marriage companies sprouted, many of which have no license. More than 1,200 firms are registered as brokers of interracial marriages as of 2009, but about 70 percent of them are very small including single-person enterprises.
These companies introduce some 40 to 50 foreign women to a Korean man, but often give false information.
In March, the Cambodian government temporarily banned Koreans from marrying Cambodian women after a broker was caught setting up meetings for a single Korean man with many women, which is prohibited by local law.
The government is coming up with measures to address the side-effects of such actions by brokerages.
The Gender Equality and Family Minister Paik Hee-young said the government will reinforce regulations on such firms.
"We revised the relevant law to ensure a correct personal profile is given in written form, and to provide education for both partners," Paik told Yonhap News.
The Ministry of Justice announced last week plans to enforce multicultural education for people who want to marry foreigners. The ministry is also considering restricting travel by those who have a history of mental illness, a criminal record of sexual violence, or who have married interracially more than three times.
However, some experts say that multicultural marriage problems will continue as long as Korean men fail to change their “wrong patriarchal mindset.”
"Men with the wrong perspective on women think they 'buy' those foreign brides and this is basically the same as human trafficking," an official of a civic organization helping married immigrants said. "We need to change the way we regard interracial marriage as the problems will continue otherwise."
meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr
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