Korean Husbands Research Articles

Backlash or victims? ‘Victimised Korean husbands’ of migrant wives and problematic norms on sexual relations in South Korea

Violence against marriage migrants became a critical social issue in South Korea in the late 2000s, and the government instituted various measures in response, partially adopting civil society organisations’ demands to protect migrant women. However, men’s rights groups also mobilised shortly after to advocate for the rights of citizen-husbands under the slogan of ‘male victims of international marriages’. Their campaigns targeted both the unscrupulous commercial matchmakers and their deceitful migrant wives. This article situates the victimised men discourse as a backlash against violence against women campaigns to reverse policy gains in the protection of women’s rights. The article argues that government policies have legitimised such discourse and used flawed ‘data’ to justify their policies. This article uses as data complaints submitted to the Korea Consumer Agency, a government regulator for consumer disputes, about international marriages and focuses on their mentioning of sexual relations, intimacy and sexuality. By doing so, this article demonstrates that men’s rights as consumers of marriage brokerage services are behind their claims of victimhood, and the victimhood discourse undermines the safety and human rights of migrant women. Moreover, a close look at the database about ‘male victimhood’ reveals severe human rights violations against migrant women.

Asian Marriage Migrant Women’s Labor Market Participation: Korean Husbands’ Egalitarian Gender Role Attitudes and Resources

Asian Marriage Migrant Women’s Labor Market Participation: Korean Husbands’ Egalitarian Gender Role Attitudes and Resources

How Culture-Specific Practices and Values May Influence International (Romanian–South Korean) Marriages

Abstract The aim of my research study is to identify the barriers that cross-cultural and interracial couples are confronted with and the ways they try to overcome these potential obstacles in order for their marriage to work, with a focus on Romanian–Korean couples (Romanian wives and Korean husbands). At stake are many aspects pertaining to culture such as religious or ideological beliefs (Christianity vs. Confucianism), individualism vs. collectivism, egalitarian vs. non-egalitarian treatment of women, the language adopted by the spouses, family expectations, as well as the discrimination of bi-racial children. The hypothesis underlying the study is that no matter how much the spouses love each other, any difference in values, practices, and behaviours can create problems. Derived from this hypothesis, the following research questions will be addressed in the study: (a) Which particular cultural issues may cause (more) frictions in international, interracial marriages? (b) What steps are taken and by which partner in order to solve the possible culturally triggered problems that appear in their relationship? (c) Are there any advantages to international, interracial marriages? To provide answers to these questions, 7 Romanian–Korean couples have been subjected to a semi-structured interview. The information provided by the respondents has been analysed within the framework of “thematic analysis”, defined by Berelson (1952: 18) as “a research technique for the objective, systematic, and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication.

Marriage‐immigrant Filipinas' acculturation and learning experiences in South Korea

AbstractThis interview‐based qualitative study aimed to understand the acculturative experiences of marriage‐immigrant women in South Korea. Filipinas, who are married to Korean husbands, migrated to South Korea to live with their husbands, and could speak English, were recruited for the research. Interviews with 15 Filipinas were analyzed. As a result, the stories of each of the research participants were reconstructed based on their interviews, and three common themes and 11 subthemes emerged from the constant comparison method are presented. First, marriage‐immigrant Filipinas learned about the role and position of a daughter‐in‐law in South Korea. Second, as mothers with foreign backgrounds, marriage‐immigrant Filipinas' motherhood had to be negotiated. Finally, marriage‐immigrant Filipinas actively engaged in developing extrafamilial support in South Korea by expanding their horizons.

Intimate mobilities—International (transnational) marriage and migration: Japanese marriage migrants floating between Japan and Korea

AbstractIn the past decade, intense mobility within Asia has led to increased international marriage (kokusai kekkon) in the region. A growing number of scholars have explored this phenomenon—called the intimate part of Asia—with a focus on foreign brides from emerging economies. Concerning international marriage between Japanese and Koreans, most research focuses on the Korean wives of Japanese husbands who reside in Japan, and little research has been conducted on the Japanese wives of Korean husbands. In this study, the postmigration experiences of Japanese marriage migrant women in South Korea are explored. Semistructured interviews were conducted in Korea with 13 participants. Drawing on the interview data, this article elucidates the trajectories of Japanese marriage migrants, focusing on subjective elements. The participants' accounts demonstrate that their experiences were intertwined with the media, politics, gender roles, parenting ideologies, and family relations. Their various emotional responses underline the ways such factors have shaped their lives.

Teaching Wife’s Language to the Children of International Marriage Couples in South Korea

This study examines the social factors and bilingual education for the children of international couples in South Korea. Previous studies identified two negative factors for bilingual education based on destination and immigrant characteristics: resistance from local spouses and the immigrants’ need for assimilation. We further develop the concept of global language status, which may moderate these effects. Using the 2015 Korean Multicultural Family Survey, we conduct regression analyses to test the two factors based on the origin country of immigrant wives. The findings show that the global language status is a meaningful factor that impacts the direction of the local resistance and assimilation effects. Korean husbands’ decision-making power on children’s education is significantly associated with a decrease in bilingual education. Korean language proficiency and citizenship as markers of assimilation also affect bilingual education, but they show a decrease for Chinese wives but an increase for Southeast Asian wives.

The Perceived Challenges of Anglophone Expatriate Male Spouses Living in South Korea: A Qualitative Case Study

The rapid increase in globalization has changed the social dynamics of many countries around the world. This has especially been the case for the Republic of Korea. In this qualitative case study, the particular challenges of Anglophone expatriate male spouses married to Korean women are explored. Utilizing questionnaires, narrative frames, semi-structured interviews, and researcher field notes, three themes and five subthemes were found. The three main themes are lack of appropriate government support services, limitations due to low Korean proficiency, and issues of power and inequality between the spouses. The subthemes include communication struggles, daily functioning difficulties, lack of decision-making power, and desire for social acceptance and equality. The results indicate that the needs of Anglophone expatriate male spouses have been largely ignored compared to other subgroups of foreign spouses in Korea as most of the services provided by the government through multicultural centers and other government facilities are aimed towards southeast Asian wives of Korean husbands. Thus, this study concludes that current government policies regarding foreign spouses and multicultural families need to be improved to become more inclusive of the needs of all categories of foreign spouses and multicultural families in Korea. This inclusivity will lead towards greater multicultural family sustainability in the future.
 
 Received: 10 October 2022 / Accepted: 26 December 2022 / Published: 5 January 2023

Transnational marriage networks for intra-Asian circuit of mobilities, investment and development: Vietnamese marriage migrant women’s investments in Vietnam

This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/ This paper introduces the case of marriage migration into the debate on the intra-Asian circuit of capital flow, human mobilities and urban and regional development. While intra-Asian marriage migration lies at the intersection of governmental policy, increased capital flow and human mobilities, it has been absent from the discussion on capital flows within the global East. Employing ethnographic research methods, we explain how Vietnamese marriage migrants in South Korea and their Korean husbands restyled their remittances to invest in land and businesses in hometowns, the Mekong Delta area and big cities through transnational marriage networks. Explanations for what caused marriage migrants’ position to evolve include a discussion of macro-politics of political and economic reforms in South Korea and Vietnam and the micro-politics of transnational networks. By demonstrating the roles of transnational marriage networks, this research contributes to the debates on migration-developmentmobility circuit.

Multiculturalism in South Korea: putting migrant wives in their place

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the role of Multicultural Family Support Centers (MFSCs) to explain the gender, race and cultural hierarchies inherent in South Korea’s system of multiculturalism. Since the 1990s the South Korean state has played an active role in facilitating marriage migration and influencing the reproductive and caregiving decisions of female marriage immigrants. This is reflected in immigration and welfare policies that incentivize migrant wives to have children and provide disproportionate power to Korean husbands. Over the past decade the Korean government has invested heavily in MFSCs. These centers cater exclusively to migrant wives with courses focused on the acquisition of the Korean language and culture. The teachers are generally older Korean women while students are migrant wives from developing countries. The version of Korean culture taught to migrant wives emphasizes traditional Confucian family roles and that a wives’ role is to focus on managing the home and supporting her husband and children. I present two case studies of cultural and cooking classes provided by a MFSC where I volunteered. The classes illustrate that multiculturalism in South Korea is focused on assimilation with limited expectation that Korean husbands and in-law families should adapt to migrant wives. Instead, migrant wives are expected to acquire a strong understanding of how to behave and understand their place in a traditional Korean family structure. I provide migrant wives’ perspectives on these classes and explain why they have limited opportunity to influence or respond to the expectations of the Korean state and in-law families.

Transnational logic of gratitude: Marriage migrants’ narratives on marital satisfaction in South Korea

Scholarship on marriage migrants has examined the impact of class and gender ideology of receiving countries on their marital satisfaction. However, little is known about the role of transnational background in explaining women’s feelings of gratitude for husbands. Drawing on qualitative in-depth interviews with marriage migrant women residing in the eastern side of Seoul, Korea, this article explores the micro-level cognitive processes in understanding women’s gratitude for their husbands. Categorizing marriage migrants into two groups, ‘gratified’ and ‘ungratified’ wives, the author demonstrates how the gratified wives’ feelings of contentment is mediated by their active comparison of Korean husbands with local men in their homelands, and how these viewpoints conversely affect their aspirations for return. Bringing the sociology of emotion into an explanation of marriage migrants’ marital satisfaction, this study aims to develop a transnational frame of reference as an underlying dynamic for comprehending marriage migrants’ (in)gratitude.

Sex is Burdensome: Multiple Case Study on Family Therapy for Korean Husbands with Sexual Disorders

This study examines three therapy cases of Korean families to explore the factors that contributed to the male clients’ experience of sex as pressure which led to sexual dysfunction. We used intra- and inter-case analysis to identify similarities and differences between the contributing factors in the cases. The contributing factors were psychological, in-law factors, marital communication factors, family of origin factors, and transference factors. Our findings suggest that interaction among these factors contributed to the husbands’ experience of sex as pressure.

Weekend Couples as a Manifestation of Gender Equality?

Abstract Some wives and husbands maintain separate residences. This form of couple is understood as a major transition in the gender arrangement of work and family. Using a sample of “weekend couples,” where Korean wives and husbands live separately, this study (1) compared weekend and typical couples in time spent on housework, and (2) examined whether time on housework is associated with life satisfaction in weekend and typical couples. I found that, while women in weekend couples spend much less time on household chores compared to women in typical couples, men in weekend couples assign more time to housework compared to their counterparts. Additionally, I found that, for women in both weekend and typical couples, more household tasks are related to lower levels of general satisfaction. The results suggest that maintaining separate residences may balance time use patterns between two partners, which could have important implications for the subjective well-being of weekend couples.

Cultural Adaptation Experience and Marital Quality among Korean Husbands Married to Immigrant Women: The Mediating Effects of Cognitive Flexibility and Multiple-Perspective Taking

Cultural Adaptation Experience and Marital Quality among Korean Husbands Married to Immigrant Women: The Mediating Effects of Cognitive Flexibility and Multiple-Perspective Taking

Living with an In-Law and Marital Conflicts: A Family Therapy Case Study

This qualitative study analyzed a family therapy case of a Korean husband and a Chinese wife who co-resided with the husband’s mother. The couple’s marital conflicts were influenced by latent factors and triggering factors. Latent factors consisted of family of origin experiences, dysfunctional communication, and family and sociocultural factors. Triggering factors that contributed to the marital conflicts included co-residence with the husband’s mother, financial difficulties due to medical bills, the husband’s gambling, the husband’s violence and wife’s loss of sexual desire. Based on the study findings, this study suggests that when working with clients of East Asian origin, couple and family therapists identify and address values embedded in East Asian cultures, such as relationships with in-laws, as well as explore family of origin experiences, communication patterns and family culture.

Patriarchal Attitudes and Marital Adjustment of Korean Husbands with Foreign Wives : Testing the Mediating Effect of Acculturation

Patriarchal Attitudes and Marital Adjustment of Korean Husbands with Foreign Wives : Testing the Mediating Effect of Acculturation

Marital dissolution of transnational couples in South Korea

ABSTRACT This study examines the risk of transnational divorce in Korea using marriage and divorce registration data between 2010 and 2014 from Statistics Korea. We raise two research questions. First, how does risk of marital dissolution differ by type of marriage? Second, how do the socio-demographic factors of a transnational couple affect the probability of divorce? We find that transnational marriage has an extremely high risk of divorce within the first 48 months of marriage. About 19% of marriages between a Korean husband and a foreign wife were dissolved, while only 6% of marriages between Korean nationals ended within 48 months. Both Chinese husbands and wives have the highest risk of divorce, and foreign women from Southeast Asian countries also have a substantially high risk of divorce. Another important finding is that less educated foreign wives have a significantly higher probability of divorce than foreign wives with higher education. Lastly, acquisition of citizenship lowers the risk of divorce for foreign spouses. Given the increasing number of transnational couples in Korea, this study presents the actual risk of divorce according to marriage duration for the first time and provides the most complete description of transnational marital dissolution thus far.

Relationship between Health Behaviors and Marital Adjustment and Marital Intimacy in Multicultural Family Female Immigrants.

BackgroundThis study analyzed the relationship between health behaviors and marital adjustment in multicultural couples to evaluate their health status.MethodsMarried couples (70 Korean men and their immigrant wives) completed a structured interview on health behaviors and sociodemographic factors, the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS), and the Marital Intimacy Scale. Based on the cutoff value of the RDAS, respondents were classified into two groups: high or low dyadic adaptation groups. The collected data were compared with health behavior regarding smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, and weight.ResultsThe odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval [CI]) by logistic regression with adjustment for age, educational level, career, occupation, length of residence in Korea, nationality, religion, age difference between couple, number of children, monthly income, and proficiency in Korean was 1.279 (1.113–1.492) for unhealthy exercise and 1.732 (1.604–1.887) for unhealthy body weight in female immigrants with low marital adjustment. In Korean husbands with low marital adjustment, the OR (95% CI) was 1.625 (1.232–2.142) for smoking and 1.327 (1.174– 1.585) for unhealthy exercise. No significant relationship was found between marital intimacy and health behaviors in female immigrants or Korean husbands.ConclusionMore desirable health behaviors were observed in highly adapted couples. Therefore, family physicians should be concerned with marital adjustment and other associative factors to evaluate and improve multicultural couples’ health status.

Factors Associated with Cervical Cancer Screening among Married Female Immigrants with Korean Husbands in South Korea.

Background. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with the national cervical cancer screening behaviors of married female immigrants living in South Korea. Methods. The present study dataset was collected by the National Health Insurance Services in 2014–2015. A final study population of 15,935 was considered eligible for inclusion in this study if they met the criteria for participation in the national cervical cancer screening program in 2014–2015. Results. Of the 15,935 subjects, 7837 (49%) participated in cervical cancer screening. Based on the results of the logistic regression analysis of the association between cervical cancer screening behaviors and related factors, the odds ratio (OR) for participation in cervical cancer screening among individuals older than 50 years was the highest (OR: 2.13; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.82–2.51), and the OR increased as their duration of stay in South Korea decreased. The OR of Chinese women for cervical cancer screening participation was higher than that of non-Chinese women (OR: 1.83; 95% CI: 1.69–1.99). The OR value was 29.4 (95% CI: 25.9–33.3) among those who participated in the general health screening compared with those who did not participate. Conclusions. To improve awareness about cervical cancer screening and reduce disparities in access to healthcare, appropriate programs should be developed to promote cervical cancer screening participation to socially vulnerable classes. Continuous social attention is needed to address these issues and encourage participation in general health screening to improve the rate of cervical cancer screening.

Contributors Influencing Marital Conflicts Between a Korean Husband and a Japanese Wife

This study explored the contributors that influenced the marital conflict between a Korean husband and a Japanese wife. The study found three triggering events and latent contributors in personal, familial, social and cultural levels. Although the three events triggered marital conflicts, the latent contributors were fundamentally maintaining and aggravating the couple’s relationship. As a result, this study suggests that when family therapists counsel interracially married Asian couples, it is necessary to address cultural differences in families of origin, communication methods, and transference along with the cultural disparities.

Family Therapy focusing on Filial Piety among Korean Husbands in Light of Family Systems Theories

My principal concern in this study necessitates a critical review of the practice of filial piety of Korean adult children, especially in the case of the eldest son, in the light of family systems theories such as those of Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy’s contextual family therapy, Murray Bowen’s intergenerational family systems theory, and the MRI group’s communication/interaction approach. Bowen's perspective of family assessment relates to the degree of differentiation of self and detriangulation from the intergenerational approach. From similar perspective to that of Bowen, Boszormenyi-Nagy's contextual approach emphasizes trustworthiness among family members. From the communication approach of the MRI group, the basic value is that the family should function through clear and direct communication. The issue of Korean filial piety is closely connected to the intergenerational approaches. Especially, practicing filial piety of the eldest son can be appropriately explained, in terms of the concept of the nuclear family emotional system, triangulation, family projection process, and sibling position in Bowen's theory. Boszormenyi-Nagy's concept of invisible loyalty can also be useful to explain the notion of the Korean filial piety of the eldest son. However, even if those theories and therapeutic models, despite their contributions and limitations, can be applied to the issue of Korean filial piety in the couple in question, the cultural sensitivity should be still heeded, particularly for non-Korean, or non-Asian therapists. Therefore, a careful consideration of the models or theories used in the application of family problems is important for family therapists, psychologists and even pastoral counselors.