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Vietnamese authorities have recently enacted strict measures to prohibit young Vietnamese women from marrying Korean men over the age of 50 beginning as early as April, a local association of international marriage brokers said Friday.
The move comes as such a matchmaking practice common among international marriage brokers continues to draw strong criticism from women's groups and human rights advocates for its similarities to human trafficking practices.
"Last week, representatives of Vietnam's administrative regions gathered up and discussed these (restrictions), and decided to implement them starting in April," said Han You-jin, the head of the association.
The reportedly agreed upon measures also prohibit marriages between Korean-Vietnamese couples who have age gaps of more than 16 years, according to Han.
International brokers' marriage arrangements, primarily between middle-age men and young foreign brides from Southeast Asian nations in search of new opportunities outside of their home countries, have frequently been criticized and labeled as human trafficking.
Last year's stabbing death of a newly-wed Vietnamese woman by her husband, 14 years older than her, also stirred concerns over foreign wives who marry Korean men through brokers without sufficient background knowledge about their spouses.
"The measures are believed to have been taken as Vietnam's quasi-government union of women reacted critically to side effects of such international marriages," Han said. "They will likely lead to a sharp drop in local marriages with Vietnamese women."
Kim Seong-chul, an official of the local Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, said the country should wait and see whether Vietnam implements any binding measures over the international marriage issue.
According to official data, 37,335 Vietnamese women are legally residing in Korea through marriages with Korean men. The Vietnamese spouses account for about one fourth of the total population of foreign spouses here.
Amid rising concerns over such marriage arrangements, Cambodia also introduced tighter regulations, banning marriages between Cambodian women and Korean men over the age of 50 that have a monthly income of less than $2,550.
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