By Jane Han
Staff Reporter

Marrying a foreigner was something distant, something Kim In-kyu only saw on television. That is, until he married one himself two years ago.

The 47-year-old is not a farmer nor a fisherman ― unlike the majority of Korean men who turn to international marriages ― but a contractor who is divorced from his Korean wife.

``The distress of my first marriage led me to rethink my perception of international marriages,'' said Kim, who now finds himself happily wed to a Vietnamese woman.

He recollects his previous relationship breaking apart largely due to money problems and personality differences. But many of the old issues aren't troubling his new marriage.

``I don't think foreign women make a huge deal out of certain issues that Korean women dwell on,'' says Kim, who currently volunteers at a local matchmaking firm to give testimonies to his experience.

He admits that his views may be biased, but according to experts, many divorcees seeking remarriage apparently look to foreigners for the same reasons..

``They believe that foreigners aren't as materialistic and are more understanding,'' said Lee Mi-yeon, a couple manager at Wedding Life, a matchmaker specializing in international marriages.

``It's hard to say whether that is always true, but at least that's what Koreans expect,'' she said.

And such expectations may be the reason why the number of remarriages with international spouses has been on a sharp rise.

Statistics Korea data showed Friday that the number of Korean men who married foreign women in their second marriage shot up nearly six-fold to 9,930 cases in 2008 from 1,708 cases in 2000.

This is a steep rise compared to the increase in the number of overall international marriages, which climbed 4.1 times from 6,945 cases in 2000 to 28,163 in 2008.

The statistical office said close to 60 percent of all Korean men picked Chinese brides for their second marriages, followed by partners from Vietnam and the Philippines.

Experts say many cross-border couples manage to overcome cultural differences, but warned that they still face similar risks that all second marriages do.

``These relationships can break up faster than the first,'' said Kim Sook-kyung, a matchmaker at Welcome Wedding, an international marriage consultancy.

Many divorced people remarry too quicky simply for emotional comfort, she said, adding that those seeking a second try with a foreigner should be extra careful because cultural disparities can be a whole new problem.

jhan@koreatimes.co.kr