VIEW: Finally, it is OK for Koreans to marry and date foreigners

Just a couple years ago, most Koreans were against the thought of dating or foreigners that are marrying.

But times have actually changed, and they’ve changed fast. Now, the couples that are international in this latest Borderless News video ( simply click above to look at) say a lot of people around them generally do not have difficulties with their relationship, and their own families help their decision up to now internationally.

Attitudes toward marrying foreigners have actually changed fast. Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, in a 2016 research cited by the Korea occasions, discovered that almost 8 in 10 Koreans aged 13 to 24 state these are generally “fine with worldwide wedding.” That’s up sharply from 2008, whenever 66 per cent of young adults stated they supported marriages that are international.

Korea has throughout the years been criticized for the treatment of foreigners as 2nd course residents, and discriminating against ladies who dated or hitched men that are foreign. Such reasoning ended up being as soon as profoundly ingrained in Korean culture. That’s because within the years following the Korean War, a predicted 1 million women that are korean into the intercourse trade, with numerous of these servicing U.S. soldiers stationed in Korea.

Years ago, it absolutely was thought that a female observed in general general public having a man that is foreign be considered an intercourse worker, and that resulted in widespread — and incredibly unjust — stereotypes. The stereotypes held that any woman that is korean by having an international man must be either a intercourse worker or perhaps a alleged “bar girl” — freelance sex employees whom have consumers by frequenting pubs.

Through the years, Koreans also started initially to genuinely believe that Korean females dating foreigners had been promiscuous, and older generation men — frequently experiencing threatened by foreign men’s sexuality — referred to these females with such terms as Yankee Yoja, which loosely translated means yankee whore, or a whore for international guys.

Needless to say these stereotypes had been unfair, nevertheless they stuck, and contributed to a negative view toward both international guys therefore the Korean ladies in relationships using them.

Korea has additionally seen high points of anti-American belief. About ten years ago saw a razor-sharp increase in anti-American belief within the accidental loss of two Korean junior twelfth grade girls, whom were go beyond by way of a U.S. military car, along with throughout the Iraq war. All this was additionally element of a continuing trend of anti-American belief in exactly what ended up being then a rather nationalist, xenophobic country that resenting the U.S. presence that is military.

And also this translated to an over-all anti-Western belief.

Protests within the very early 2000s saw foreigners assaulted regarding the street a times that are few along with spat upon or cursed away. Well-known Korean pop music movie stars such as Yoon Do Hyun performed hits such as for example “Fucking USA” and Psy, who’s extremely popular within the U.S. now for their hit Gangnam Style, in 2004 sung “kill those fucking Yankees..Kill their daughters, mothers…,” talking about U.S. soldiers fighting within the Iraq war.

The type of reasoning had been so widespread that, in decades past, it ended up beingn’t unusual for Korean feamales in a relationship having a international guy to conceal the connection from their parents, doubting they’d a boyfriend at all — even for a long time. Some would surely even enable their moms and dads to correct them up on times with young Korean males, to keep within the ruse. Korean women hitched to men that are foreign often the topic of gossip of next-door next-door next-door neighbors.

However with younger generation, much has changed. Korea’s generation that is new so much more well-traveled than past generations, quite a few having examined, worked, or done internships abroad. Korea can also be advertising its nation as a tourist destination that welcomes other nationalities — a razor-sharp distinction from a ten years ago. Furthermore, like other nations, social media marketing links Korea towards the globe.

In Borderless News’ latest video clip, interviewees state they’ve no issue utilizing the notion of dating or marrying foreigners — plus some state their moms and dads even would choose which they marry a foreigner. Some state worldwide relationships really are a means for Korea to get international.

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