Intercultural relationships in South Korea

Hello,

We invite you to share some fun anecdotes and information regarding intercultural marriages and relationships in South Korea. This will provide some insight to current and future expats regarding relationship norms in mixed relationships and marriages in South Korea.

What are some of the best things about being in an intercultural relationship/marriage?

What are some challenges that you have faced or are currently facing? How do you address them?

Are intercultural relationships/marriages common and accepted in South Korea?

What are the benefits to being in an intercultural relationship/marriage?

Do you have any fun or interesting anecdotes to share regarding dating norms and rules for intercultural relationships/marriages?

Thank you for sharing your experience,

Priscilla

Intercultural marriages are a challenge everywhere, but they can be even more difficult in a society which is largely mono-cultural.  Compared with 20 years ago, Koreans rarely married outside their ethnic group, but now it has been become more common.  There are fewer Americans in Korea now, but they seem to have been replaced by Aussies and Kiwis.  Visa restrictions make total integration entirely unlikely. 

Most foreign instructors work in language institutes and before choosing to work for one, I would advise significant research, because you will probably be dependent on that company's visa sponsorship.

On the positive side, racial discrimination is rarely as blatant and because of the need to ESL instructors, I find that I am a bit of a novelty.  The need for ESL/EFL instructors never ends.

Korean regulations can make it difficult for foreigners to set up small businesses here and most of them fail.  The Korean government seems to move 3 steps foreign for every 2 steps backwards, so the key to success in Korea is having a high degree of flexibility.