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The Korean government should implement a stricter screening of interracial marriages between Korean men and foreign women, especially those from the Philippines, said Philippine Ambassador to Korea Luis Cruz, Tuesday.
In an interview with The Korea Times, Cruz suggested a consul be assigned to the Korean Embassy in Manila to check the F-2 visa applications of Filipino spouses of Korean citizens.
“We hope that Seoul can send a consul to the embassy, where they can screen the applicants better,” he said.
Cruz met with Minister of Gender Equality and Family Paik Hee-young last week, along with envoys from China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Uzbekistan, Thailand, and Mongolia to discuss the issues regarding interracial marriages and multicultural families.
The ministry is sending a consul to the Korean Embassy in Vietnam in February to screen the applications of Vietnamese women who are marrying Korean men. Last year, a young Vietnamese woman was murdered here by her psychologically troubled Korean husband.
Cruz hoped the ministry can do the same for the embassy in Manila, especially in light of the recent alleged suicide of a Filipino woman, Cathy Deocades, in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province. Deocades was abused by the Korean husband she met through a marriage broker in the Philippines.
While marriage brokers and mail order bride agencies are allowed in Korea, the Philippines has a law prohibiting organizing or facilitating marriages between Filipino women and foreign men.
However, this has not stopped illegal marriage brokers from arranging marriages between Korean men and much younger Filipino women.
“Another way to address this is to require Korean men to undergo cultural orientation in the Philippines, so they can also learn about the culture,” Cruz said, adding this may lessen misunderstandings.
Fr. Alvin Parantar, head chaplain of the Hyehwa-dong Filipino Catholic community in Seoul, suggested temporarily suspending marriages between Korean men and Filipino women until stricter regulations are imposed. He also pushed the Philippine government to crack down on illegal marriage brokers.
“The Korean Embassy in Manila should also have some kind of system to monitor and control these arranged marriages. They should try to check the qualifications and psychological status of the Korean men before they enter into a complex relationship like marriage with a foreign wife,” Parantar told The Korea Times.
“The Korean government should not just concentrate on programs teaching Korean language and culture for foreign wives, but also make Korean men more aware of their wives’ respective cultures.
“The government’s multicultural programs are all about ‘Koreanizing’ the women, but the men should also learn and respect their wives’ cultures. It shouldn’t be just a one-sided thing, but it should be a mutual process of learning for both husband and wife,” Parantar said.
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