Adapting to Marriage Markets: International Marriage Migration from Vietnam to South Korea.

International marriage migration, while not an entirely new phenomenon, became numerically important in parts of Asia in the early 2000s. This research examines some of the reasons for the rise in marital unions between Vietnamese women and South Korean men. Using census data, we assess the extent to which partner shortages existed for men in South Korea and for women in Vietnam at the onset of the rise in marriage migration. We then use survey data to identify some of the characteristics of those who have entered international unions. While we identify a substantial marriage squeeze on certain subgroups of Korean men at the time marriage migration was expanding, the same is not true for women in Vietnam, at least at the national level. To help explain what has motivated some women in Vietnam to enter into international marriages, we turn to data from in-depth interviews. We also discuss the roles played by international marriage brokerage agencies and migrant networks in the process. Our analysis suggests that the growth in the international marriage market between South Korea and Vietnam has been spurred by several drivers: (1) demographic, as seen in the marriage squeeze on rural men in Korea, (2) cultural, in terms of the continuing importance of marital hypergamy in both contexts, (3) economic, as an important motivator of Vietnamese marriage migrants, (4) institutional (with the ongoing but perhaps declining importance of marriage brokers), and (5) the growing role of interpersonal networks.