Word: koreas
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...husband Hong Seung Woo with the matchmaking agency he runs to connect North Korean women and South Korean men. Hong opened the business in 2006, a year after he and his wife were married. As of last September, there were officially over 17,000 North Koreans living in South Korea, triple the number from 2004, according to the Unification Ministry, the government agency in Seoul in charge of North Korean affairs. Almost 80% of North Koreans defecting today are women. "This is a shortcut for their adaptation," says Kang. (See pictures of North Koreans at the polls...
...Until recently, most North Koreans landing in the South, like Kang, had little or no contact with the outside world before they left home. Figuring out how to integrate into the fast-paced, capitalist world of Seoul can take years. Although the two Koreas share a history and some cultural values, North and South Korea have been divided since the 1950-53 Korean War. Before the North's famine in the 1990s, only a privileged few with money and connections to border guards could make the crossing. ("If you pay enough, you can get anyone out," says Kang.) After decades...
...crush of the famine, however, which is believed to have killed up to 2 million people, sent thousands of North Koreans fleeing to China and, eventually, to South Korea through church groups or brokers. In the past three or four years, many new arrivals have already had family or some connection to South Korea. "The most envied ones [in North Korea today] are those who have relatives in the South and get remittances," says Park. "So now when [North Koreans] come, they are confident and eager to integrate." Ju Seong Soon, a 25-year-old North Korean woman, studied English...
...Matchmaking companies like Kang and Hong's play a uniquely symbiotic role in South Korea, helping balance the nation's surplus of bachelors. In recent years, more male children have been born to South Korean households than girls, the result of sex screening and selective abortion due to the preference of couples for male babies. In recent years, many of these men have taken home wives from other parts of Asia, a solution that has left many couples grappling with a big cultural gap. Marrying a North Korean woman, Hong says, is a better fit. "They share our same traditions...
...cope with culture shock. Dozens of civic groups are also trying to raise awareness or fight for North Korean defectors' rights and several North Korean newspapers, radio channels and associations have been set up in the past few years. Kang's 18-year-old niece, who arrived in South Korea in June, is already studying English, math and computing and is preparing to go to university in Seoul. Finding a husband is probably not at the top of her list. Says Kang, watching her niece check her e-mail: "She won't have the life...