"The Benefits of North Korean Women". On The Border Between Foreign and Domestic Brides PDF

“The Benefits of North Korean Women”:
On the Border between Foreign and Domestic Brides
Sarah Cho
Department of Communication
University of Massachusetts Amherst
sarahcho@umass.edu
Biography. Sarah Cho is an ABD at the Department of Communication, University of

Massachusetts Amherst. Her research interests are mainly social interaction and identity,
specifically related to the construction of social categories among different ethnic groups through
communication practices.
Running head: THE BENEFITS OF NORTH KOREAN WOMEN 2

Abstract
For this study, the meaning and ideology of the marriage industry in South Korea that advertises
North Korean women were explored. The color images and the languages that comprise a series
of 10 commercial “webtoons” are examined to determine how the advertisements play a role in
the unique cross-border matchmaking industry in South Korea, which resembles “mail-order-
marriage” in many respects. The campaign posted on a marriage agency’s Facebook page depicts
specific situations related to dating and married life in South Korea, and indicates that a South
Korean man and his family, the target audience, occupy the highest position in the social
hierarchy. The analysis also shows that North Korean women are potentially appreciated as
“pseudo-us,” which means they are different from “us” but among “us,” in South Korean society
and they are valued for the “benefit” that they can legitimate and reproduce preexisting social
norms such as gender hierarchy, nationalism, xenophobia, and consumerism.
Keywords: marriage industry, advertisement, webtoon, North Korean refugee, xenophobia


Currently, incomparable human mobility is taking place that promotes migrants both
internally and internationally, creates diversity, and connects communities within and across
borders. According to the United Nations (UN, 2017), the number of international migrants has
grown faster than the world’s population, and an estimated 244 million migrants live abroad,
including 20 million refugees. In Asian countries, such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan,
aging populations, low birth rates, and labor shortages for low-wage jobs have expedited intra-
Asia migration (Ahn, 2013). People mostly cross borders due to demographic or economic
demands, and some are migrants affected by both demands, such as marriage migrants who find
spouses abroad via international matchmaking agencies. The international marriage industry,
traditionally referred to as “mail-order bride” businesses, markets “women from developing
countries as potential brides to men in industrialized nations” (Chun, 1996, p. 1155). Because the
marriage agencies pay the brides and their families or pay for their needs related to migration,
researchers have criticized the commodification of women by this industry in developing
countries (Klass, 1995; Villapando, 2000). According to Chun (1996), the international marriage
industry contributes to male domination because it allows a husband to dominate his wife by
exploiting her needs as well as the economic situation in her home country. Especially, in the
global matchmaking industry, Internet technology effectively assists the “commodification of
intimacy” by connecting people and advertising their services through online platforms even if
the individuals are geographically dispersed, leading to the tremendous growth of this industry
(Constable, 2009).
This paper discusses one marriage business located on the Korean peninsula that uses
Facebook to advertise its services to potential clients who are familiar with the online
environment. In South Korea, the international marriage industry is prospering. Marriages
between South Korean men and foreign—mostly Asian—women have increased considerably
since the 2000s (KNSO, 2016a). The government (KNSO, 2016b) explained that this increase
was mainly caused by the significant gap South Korea has between the male and female

populations who are of “marriageable age” (1.930:1.540 million).1 Collaborating with marriage
brokers, the government has promoted international marriage, and migrant wives are perceived
as “the most easily mobilized resource to solve the various family crisis and care-work burdens
facing Korean society” (Kim, 2007, pp. 107–108). The percentage of marriages between Koreans
and foreign nationals multiplied between 2000 and 2012 (3.5% to 8.7%), and these family units,
commonly referred to as “multicultural families” (damunhwagajeong), are expected to reach 2%
of national population by 2020 (Cho, 2013). Thus, South Korea has been undergoing a
transformation into a multiracial and multiethnic society.
This emerging multiculturalism has heightened South Koreans’ anxieties that the influx
of foreigners will dilute South Korea’s cultural purity, thus undermining the country’s national
and ethnic identities (Cha, Lee, & Park, 2016; Lee, 2008). Although the South Korean
government’s proactive multicultural initiatives appear to depart considerably from deep-rooted
ethnic-nationalism, the government maintains Korean ethnic superiority and patriarchy (Ahn,
2013; Kim, 2007). Kim (2007) claimed that two features attest to the paternalistic features of
South Korean multiculturalism: first, cross-border brides are considered worthy only because
they are married to Korean men and reproduce Korean children and second, multiculturalism in
South Korea demands marriage migrants to assimilate into the South Korean paternalistic system
by being an obedient wife and daughter-in-law. These features reflect the cultural values of
Korean society based on the members’ notions of race and gender as well as the preexisting
hierarchy among nations, cultures, and individuals.
In this paper, one specialized matchmaking industry in Korea is discussed rather than the
international marriage market in general. In South Korea, around 400 agencies offer international
marriage services, and about 10 agencies work with North Korean refugee women (Ministry of
Gender Equality and Family, 2017). According to the Ministry of Unification of South Korea
(2018), the North Korean refugee population of 30,000 in South Korea is comprised of 75%
women, and these refugees often experience difficulties during their long journey from North
Korea to South Korea. The North Korean Freedom Coalition (2017) found that women who
escape North Korea suffer grievous human rights violations as citizens of North Korea and as
refugees in China as well. Most female refugees live in China in constant fear of being
1
This is a legal concept referring to men aged 29–33 years and women aged 26–30 years.

kidnapped and sold or caught and returned to North Korea because those who are returned to
North Korea can be subject to forced labor, rape, and other tortures while in prison (Kim & Lee,
2009). When the refugees finally arrive in South Korea, although they are no longer persecuted,
they still experience stress. Kim and Lee (2009) found that the refugees experience culture shock
due to the differences between these states as well as various types of discrimination against
North Koreans who arrive in South Korea. Due to a lack of education and limited resources, the
refugees mostly suffer from economic strains and struggles in adjusting to South Korean society.
Therefore, several matchmaking agencies work with these refugee women to serve South Korean
men who seek to marry.
This paper specifically examines the marriage industry in South Korea that advertises
North Korean women by analyzing a commercial campaign, and the following research question
is answered: How do the advertisements represent the values and beliefs of South Korean
society? The analysis showed that the sexist and racist ideologies prevail in representations of the
marriage industry because the campaign (a) glorifies North Korean refugee women as valued
members of Korean society, (b) diminishes South Korean and non-Korean women, and (c)
focuses on men and their families as the center of attention as target audience. To answer the
research question, a commercial “webtoon” series was analyzed. While conventional cartoons
are formatted for printed books, “webtoons” rarely have limitations related to stylistic aspects,
such as color, direction of reading, font and size of letters, length of episodes, or even the
insertion of video or audio content, due to their fittingness for digital platforms, such as social
media (Choi & Chon, 2014). The marriage agency used this format and Facebook to target a
young audience that enjoys webtoons, and it is assumed that they aimed the campaign at their
primary target audience of relatively young South Korean men. Each episode of this webtoon
series contains five to six boxes with sequences and a set of captions, creating a short
conversation among the characters.
A set of 10 cartooned panels titled “북한여성의 장점 (bughan yeoseongui jangjeom,
The Benefits of North Korean Women)” was posted on Welldding’s official Facebook page on
August 10, 2014. It aimed to market North Korean refugee brides via the campaign’s visual and
textual representations. The series went viral and was criticized for its racist and sexist messages,

and the company closed their Facebook account within a few days (Park, 2014).2 Welldding, the
advertiser, can no longer be found on the list of registered marriage agencies in Korea.
Constructing stratification
In this study, the set of advertisements was explored by examining the identities, actions,
and situations that are hidden, abstracted, or foregrounded within them. Discourse constructs
hegemonic attitudes, opinions, and beliefs to make them appear natural and practical (Fairclough
& Wodak, 1997). In this analysis section, the discussion focuses on four episodes from the series
that illustrate the stratifications of gender and ethnic identities that the campaign created. The top
of the hierarchy, Korean men, is examined before discussing the positioning of women.
1) Men and their families as the center of marriage

In the title image, “The Benefits of North Korean Women,” North Korean women’s
origin and gender shape a particular discourse, as it is connected with the term “benefits,” which
is highlighted in red text (Figure 1). In Korean, jangjeom (“benefits”) is ambiguous and may
refer to an aspect of an individual’s personal strength or to the advantage of certain items.
Therefore, the title can be understood as the personal strength of North Korean women, the
advantage of using the company to marry them, or both.
2 Even after the company’s deletion, this webtoon series can still be found on many webpages (See
https://www.instiz.net/pt?no=2500190&page=1)

Figure 1. Title page
The young female character is placed at the left-center of the panel, while the text is at
the top-center. The woman-bride is larger than the others and is placed to the left in the couple’s
image; this page placement indicates she is important in the episodes. In addition, this panel
introduces the main characters in the series: a young Korean couple, the groom’s parents, and the
future children (signified by the maroons on the cloth, according to the Korean traditional
ceremony). Accordingly, the title page represents the advantages that the whole family would
enjoy from the groom marrying the bride. The groom is the only character who looks at the
reader to create a direct relation with the reader, which is a ‘demand’ image, whereas the bride
looking at the groom is ‘offer’ (Kress and van Leeuwen, 1996). Although the bride is illustrated
as larger than the others and is placed to the left, the groom’s direct gaze at the reader indicates
that he represents the leading character, and as the title implies, he is expected to be the main
beneficiary of this marriage—the benefits obtained from marrying a North Korean woman.

Figure 2. Episode 6 – “They take care of the husband’s parents”
Another panel depicts a couple that is already married, although the husband does not
appear in the episode (Figure 2). Here, the young woman performs several different household
chores, such as massaging the mother-in-low, washing dishes, serving watermelon to the father-
in-law, and vacuuming, while her mother-in-law watches her and the father-in-law takes rests
with his puppy. This episode portrays the ideal marital situation from a traditional Korean
perspective: when they are away from the home, husbands expect their wives to care for their
parents and households. This message that the husband and his family are the beneficiaries of the
marriage is evident throughout the series. The company articulates that the wife’s strengths will
benefit the husband’s family, and the eventual benefit of North Korean women is hyo. Hyo (孝)
is a traditional concept, shared throughout many Asian cultures, that refers to filial duties toward
parents (Sung, 2001). The mother-in-law indicates that the one who practices hyo is not the
North Korean woman but her son (“Our son did hyo through marriage”), which is expressed
solely through the mother’s speech. Marrying a North Korean woman who is diligent would
allow the son to fulfill his hyo to his parents. This message, both verbally and visually, conveys
that the wife’s efforts lead to the father and mother’s happiness, which indicates that not only the

husband but also his family are the target of this advertisement; because the parents are shown in
several episodes enjoying the services of the North Korean daughter-in-law. The parents of
current marriageable-age men are part of the baby boomer generation, and they accumulated
wealth during the period of economic growth in Korea. Accordingly, the campaign may attempt
to include parents by advertising the benefits they can expect from their sons’ marriages. Parents
may also be concerned about their unmarried sons and may suggest that they utilize Welldding’s
services.
Overall, on the title page and in the sixth episode, the benefits of marrying North Korean
women are advertised by targeting South Korean men and their families. Although no benefit is
guaranteed for the wife, the young woman smiles while completing all the chores. This recurring
smile indicates that the wife is happy regardless of which chores she performs. The caption
“They… have a willingness to serve parents-in-law in their home… they came to South Korea
by themselves and have spent too long time alone” provides the explanation for the North
Korean woman’s willingness to serve her husband’s parents. This rationale lessens any guilt that
men may have when purchasing a wife because marriage would become a reward for the lonely
woman; however, this reward does not require the husbands’ or family members’ sacrifices but
simply decreases readers’ potential shame and restores their confidence in utilizing the service.
Next, the way the campaign displays North Korean women as fitting into the husband’s society
and with those placed highest in the hierarchy better than other women is demonstrated.
2) North Korean women are similar to “us”

This webtoon series begins with a scene that illustrates a traditional Korean wedding to
claim the benefit of marrying an insider, or one of “us.” The title page (Figure 1) illustrates the
Pyeback ritual, an important stage of a traditional Korean wedding ceremony dating back to the
Silla era (BC 58–AD 935) in which the newly married couple bows to the groom’s family (Shin,
2007). This depiction of a shared Korean ceremony encodes North Korean woman as part of the
same culture as the South Korean man and his family. Throughout the campaign, the agency
emphasizes that their brides understand Korean culture and therefore are unlike the typical cross-
border wives. They presume that Korean men do not appreciate the diversity that multicultural
families may bring to society but only hope their wives are similar to the natives.

The advertisement also provides another reason that North Korean women are willing to
serve men and their families, which is because they came from “the country of courteous people
in the East” (Figure 2, #6:2). This phrase was first used by a Chinese emperor around 2,000 years
ago to describe Korea’s abilities to properly serve larger countries, such as China (Kim, 2004).
This historical contextualization does not appear to be relevant to this episode; however, the
webtoon highlights this expression using a red font. The term “courteous people” groups South
Korean and North Korean people into one group, potentially distinguishing this group from
groups that do not know the Korean cultural value of serving, or hyo. Therefore, the historical
term categorizes North Korean women in the same cultural category as South Koreans, who
respect a husband and his family properly, while excluding non-Korean women.
Figure 3. Episode 1 – “They are all pretty”

Figure 4. North Korean cheerleaders (Photo credit: Tong-il-news)
To emphasize that North Korean women are part of the Korean culture, the campaign
utilized specific events to assert “One Korea.” Recontextualizing the images in the first episode
(Figure 3) connects this panel with the themes of “One Korea” and the beauty of North Korean
women. The black and white clothing that the female characters wear is not a typical color
variation of hanbok (Korean traditional costume) but specifically recalls a North Korean
cheerleading team (Figure 4), although the advertisement does not mention it. This team visited
South Korea in 2005 for an international multisport event (Chung & Lee, 2005). The team’s visit
received considerable media attention, mostly related to the women’s attractive appearance. The
cheerleaders became even more famous in South Korea because Ri Sol-ju, one of its members,
later became the First Lady of North Korea. During the year of this commercial campaign, South
Koreans paid significant attention to Ri’s life and her image, and the other images in this panel
deliver the benefit of the ties between the Koreas. ‘The Korean unification flag’ the women are
waiving is a symbol of collaboration between North and South Korea as well. This flag has been
used during most nonpolitical events held under the joint auspices of the Koreas since 1991. The
images of the cheerleaders and the flag group members of the two Koreas as Koreans, one ethnic
group, and potentially appeal to readers’ ethnocentric nationalism to promote the acceptance of
marrying a North Korean woman. These images also emphasize the culture and the appearance
that the audiences and their future North Korean wives would share as a benefit to men.
The agency not only highlights the physical appearance of North Korean women but also
positions them as desired members of South Korean society. In this advertisement, North Korean
women are expected to be beneficial to South Korean men as well as to Korean society due to
their presupposed lower status under South Korean men. The narration in the first episode opens

with the phrase “Nam Nam Buk Nyo” (Men from South women from North, See Figure 3),
implying that men from South Korea and women from North Korea are well-matched. This
phrase originated during the Joseon dynasty (AD 1392-1897) when the young academics of the
Southern Yeongnam region (“Men from South”), who excelled in politics, were well-matched
with kisaengs in the Northern Pyongyang and Kaesong regions (“Women from North”), who
excelled in performance (Song, 2011). In Korea, kisaeng, which is similar to geisha in Japan,
refers to sexually promiscuous performing artists who offered intelligent and charming company
to wealthy and influential men (Chung, 2009); however, in current South Korean society, people
use this phrase to refer to relationships between South Korean men and North Korean women.
Figure 5. A secret meeting (of ruling class men and a kisaeng) at midnight by Sin Yun-bok
(1758~1814?)
In addition to the text, the graphics and images illustrate the asymmetric relations
between the male and female characters. In the first box of episode 1, the contradictory graphics
of a man in professional attire and female characters in traditional costume compare the North
and South Korean relationship to subordinate supporters and people of power, such as kisaengs
and their customers. This theme is also represented through other characters who recall North
Korean restaurant waitresses who serve food and perform for South Korean guests in Cambodia
(Figure 6), similar to the role of the kisaeng in the Joseon dynasty times. This campaign utilized
an old phrase to refer to the shared Korean tradition and stereotypical gender role to bridge the
two current Koreas as well as the brides and customers.

Figure 6. Excerpted images from Episode 1 and two female servers in a North Korea-owned
restaurant in Cambodia3
The graphic of the cheerleading team (Figure 3) also contributes to the discourse of Nam
Nam Buk Nyo. Although in a different context, Grindstaff and West (2006) found that
cheerleaders are associated with hegemonic masculinity in sports, and the feminine performance
reinforces the notion of sports as a male activity. The webtoon series uses the image of
cheerleaders in three episodes with associated captions: “They are all pretty” (Episode 1); “North
Korean refugees … potentially resolves gender unbalance problem” (Episode 7); “Welldding a
marriage agency for Nam Nam Buk Nyo”; and “Our membership fee is about 1/10 of typical
international marriage agencies” (Episode 10). In sum, the advertiser claims that North Korean
3
The photos were found on a Korean tourist’s blog (posted in October 2007) by Googling “North Korean beauties”
(북한미녀).

women’s attractive appearance, like the cheerleaders, and their influx into South Korea benefit
South Korean society as well as the men who seek less expensive marriage services. The Nam
Nam Buk Nyo discourse associated with the cheerleaders’ images represents and reinforces
patriarchy in South Korea and portrays the relationship between North Korean women and
audiences as kisaeng and wealthy men, as cheerleaders and athletes, and as the first lady and
political leader–hierarchical marriage relationship between subordinate wives and husbands in
power. Throughout the webtoon series, the women are secondary to men and exist to serve them;
however, not all women are the considered the same, which is discussed in the next section.
3) South Korean women seeking profits in marriage

After establishing that North Korean women and South Korean men share the same
culture and a patriarchal perspective, the campaign provides a stratified structure of women.
First, the campaign compares North Korean and South Korean women.
Figure 7. Episode 4 – “They are unlike women in our country”
In the fourth episode, the comparison is clearly conveyed through the text and the
dialogue. Due to the monotonous background, the red color in the caption describing North
Korean women as “don’t know how to calculate and gauge … kindhearted and ingenuous” is

clearly visible (Figure 7). In addition, the letters in the caption are four to six times larger than
the conversation in the speech bubbles in this panel. In this emphasized caption, two groups of
women are compared in terms of their ingenuousness. South Korean women are presented as
“know how to calculate and gauge” (what is beneficial to them in marriage), while North Korean
women are presented as different in this regard. This webtoon suggests that North Korean
women know less than South Korean women, especially regarding married life. Because
knowledge is often equated with power, North Korean women’s lack of knowledge would be
beneficial to their future husbands, who would have more control in the marriage. This control is
contrasted with knowledgeable South Korean women, who attempt to secure their own
advantages, while North Korean women “do not know” how to do so. The webtoon portrays
South Korean women as women who know and care about their economic status and thus as
women who attempt to secure advantageous marriages, unlike North Koreans, who do not use
their marriages as a social mobility tool and instead marry to “love” their husband. This lack of
cunning is another benefit of marrying North Korean women, and thus North Korean women are
better suited than domestic women for marriage.
The company understands that South Korean women might be viewed as preferable to
North Korean women. This view is based on the fact that most marriage agencies’ customers
seek brides after they have failed to find South Korean brides, which is similar to other countries
in which foreign brides have been negatively represented (Kawaguchi & Lee, 2012). According
to Chun (1996), the men who purchase brides typically have a lower socioeconomic status,
which may be one of the most important factors in their failure to marry a South Korean woman.
These views, specifically the lower social class of the husband, are addressed by the campaign
(Figure 6). In Episode 4, the man appears to be concerned when he asks the potential wife:
“Don’t you wonder about my savings, my job, and the size of my house?” This question follows
a culturally accepted scenario in which men have experience with domestic women who did not
accept them due to lacking the material advantages mentioned in the question; however, the
caption blames South Korean women’s lack of ingenuousness, a position that is confirmed
through the North Korean woman’s answer, “I marry you because I want love, not for money.”
This panel insinuates that South Korean women would marry for money and presumes that they
seek advantageous marriages, which foster the audience’s preference for North Korean women,
who would be satisfied with a man with a lower socioeconomic status. Another disadvantage of

South Korean women is identified as well. In Episode 1 (Figure 3), the campaign diminishes
South Korean women’s attractiveness by stating that North Korean women are naturally
beautiful without plastic surgery. This text implies that South Korean women require artificial
treatments, which are costly, to be attractive. Although both groups share the same culture with
the audience, according to this webtoon series, South Korean women are self-centered and
disingenuous, both in appearance and in economics. Hence, due to their appearance and their
marriage goals, North Korean women are better than domestic women in maximizing their
husbands’ benefits.
4) Non-Korean women causing miscommunication and mixed-blood children

The campaign marginalizes another group as well: Non-Korean women. A comparison
between North Korean and non-Korean women is presented in the eighth episode (Figure 8). The
captions in this episode can be translated as follows: “Because North Koreans are the same
ethnic group (colored text) as South Koreans, they can be free from the problem of mixed-blood
children that multicultural families are experiencing.” The first two terms, “same ethnic group”
and “free from the problem,” are associated with the ethnic identity of all Koreans, which is
presumably shared with the readers, while “the problem of mixed-blood children” belongs to
multicultural families in this webtoon series. In South Korea, xenophobia is a combination of
nationalism and economics in which South Koreans are viewed as superior to neighboring
cultures and countries, and this view is conveyed in Episode 8.4 According to this commercial
campaign, in South Korea, “mixed-blood” is problematic, and the cultural background
emphasizes that this mixture is especially problematic when the child belongs to a foreign bride
from a country with a lower economic status than South Korea (See Ju & Noh, 2013). North
Korea is one of the least economically developed countries in the world, but North Koreans are
the same ethnic group as South Koreans, as emphasized throughout the campaign. In this
4 Although race (Injong) is rarely discussed in Korean society, there has been a historical discourse about ethnicity
(Minjok) that is associated with strong nationalism (Kang, 2006). During the Japanese occupation, Korean thinkers
developed a concept of nationalism that defines Korea as a nation of one ethnic group with a single ancestor.
National identity in Korea as a single ethnic group was promoted as the main ideology after the annexation to
Imperial Japan, and this has contributed to national solidarity and a long-held hostility even now toward Japan in
Korean society (Myers, 2011); however, this ethnocentrism fails to explain Koreans’ discrimination against
immigrants of Korean ancestry, such as the Korean-Chinese or North Koreans who settled in South Korea. It also
does not explain Koreans’ respect toward White people from Western countries. Kim (2001) explained that
Koreans’ racial discrimination relies more on their assumptions of economic hierarchy among countries and less on
nationalism or ethnocentrism.

episode, the advertisement highlights the term “problem of mixed-blood children,” which is
typically associated with the image of multicultural families in Korea (Figure 8); however, this
message is delivered in a multi-modal way because the images strongly convey the ethnic
problems associated with non-Korean mothers.
Figure 8. Episode 8 – “They are free from the blood-mix problem”
First, one of the red texts, “the same ethnic group,” can be understood to correspond with
the image of the girl and the father in the same box (8:2). Meanwhile, a boy’s image,
accompanied by the text “multicultural families” above him, contrasts with the presentation of
the “South-Korean” father-daughter image in various ways (8:3): (a) his external appearance—
he has a darker skin tone, brown and coarse hair, and round eyes without whites; (b) the darker
background; (c) an extreme close-up that focuses on his face, while the girl shows her full body
from various angles; (d) the boy being alone without a guardian; (e) the boy faces
straightforward, as if looking directly at the reader, unlike any of the images of the girl, who
interacts with her father; and (f) the boy wears a non-bright green shirt as opposed to the girl’s

bright yellow shirt and trousers, the typical kindergarten uniform in South Korea. This episode
attempts to present a specific image of a multicultural family, which is distinctive from the
characteristics of Korean families. The boy’s features convey sadness, suggesting that such a
child is less happy, and by extension, his family is so. This representation stands in sharp
contrast to the lively girl and her father in this panel. The child from a multicultural family looks
different, which is recognized in South Korean society as a problem, while the child of a North
Korean looks the same as the children of South Koreans. The caption “multicultural families are
experiencing” above the boy’s image is powerful in creating a negative impression of
multicultural families. Although marrying North Korean women creates a legally multicultural
family in South Korea, the webtoon recontextualizes multicultural families with a visually
distinctive image of the child of such a family, and separates North Koreans from multicultural
families. The caption and the title deliver the following argument: Although you are marrying a
North Korean and are legally part of a multi-cultural family, you can hide your family’s
multicultural identity because your children can pass as Koreans due to their ethnic similarity.
Therefore, marrying a North Korean is more beneficial than marrying a non-Korean bride, which
potentially leads to ethnic differences in appearance.
The ethnocentric xenophobic argument in episode 8 is magnified via the graphic as well
as the conversation within it. The girl states that she saw a non-Korean student at her
kindergarten and says her new friend has a “weird skin color and can’t speak Korean.” She then
asks her dad, “Why is he (different)?” She is surprised when the father answers that the boy
looks and speaks differently because of his foreign mother (he does not concern the origin of
boy’s father). At this point, the father asks his daughter to refrain from talking with her mother
about this topic. The father may be concerned because his wife is also from another country, but
the daughter remains unaware of this fact. This pattern marks the benefit of hidden identity—
hidden even to the children. Due to the negative stereotypes and stigma associated with marriage
to immigrant women and multicultural families in South Korean society, this hidden identity can
be a good reason to choose a North Korean bride. Note that graphically, the North Korean
mother is hidden in this episode, and the text hides something from her. This webtoon glorifies
the mother’s appearance, which is similar to South Korean women, and hence their ‘pass-
ability,’ or the ability to pass as South Korean via their appearance. This is advertised as another

benefit of North Korean women, and it is a crucial point that the company used to distinguish
between its services and those of other international marriage agencies.
Discussion
In this commercial campaign, North Korean women are placed on the border between
foreign and domestic brides: North Korean women look like domestic women and share cultural
values with South Koreans but are purchasable similar to typical “mail-order” brides. The
women are already living in South Korea, unlike the cross-border brides who must wait in their
home countries until future husbands invite them to South Korea, but they came from another
country like other foreign brides. This multi-identity of North Korean women can be described
as belonging to the “pseudo-us”: there is a division between “us,” Koreans, and “them,” foreign
brides from countries with a lower economic status than South Korea as well as South Korean
women who are not willing to marry the target audience. Text producers use pronouns such as
“us” and “them” to place people alongside or against their own ideas and to create a collective
“other” that is in opposition of the ideas (Machin & Mayr, 2012). More precisely, Ryabovolova
(2017) discussed the category of “pseudo-us,” or “them among us,” as a variant of “othering”—a
term studied by critical discourse analysts to refer to “the process of representing an individual or
a social group to render them distant, alien, or deviant” (Coupland, 2010, p. 244). In the marriage
industry, North Koreans are potentially appreciated as “pseudo-us,” which means the women are
different from “us” but among “us,” and they are valued for the “benefit” that they can legitimate
and reproduce preexisting social norms, such as gender hierarchy, while “other” women do not
agree with the ideology.
In particular, these advertisements are based on and recreate ethnocentric and patriarchal
ideology in South Korea. The social hierarchy is based on the different identities presented
throughout the campaign and their relations, which promote a male-centric society. In the
episodes discussed, it is clear that North Korean women are meant to serve South Korean men—
not only the husband but also his family. The starting point of this series is that the marriage
provides benefits for the men and their families and that women, including female North Korean
refugees, are meant to serve men. This sexist view is incorporated throughout this advertisement,
and it corresponds with ordering women as the potential servants of South Korean men. Rather
than language use that specifies this power relation, this webtoon series presupposes that there is

indeed a hierarchy between men and women; this implies that audiences must agree with the
statement. Following this sexist view, the advertisement portrays women as rivals. The
comparison of the benefits of South Korean, North Korean, and non-Korean brides through the
graphics and texts is based on the following social norms, and it replicates them. First, North
Korean women are more affordable because they do not seek material benefits in marriage as
South Korean, liberated women do, and they are even less-expensive than non-Korean brides.
Second, North Korean women serve their husbands and their parents because the women have
been lonely, unlike South Korean women and non-Korean women, who do not even understand
hyo. Also, the women’s willingness to perform hyo for their own parents in their home country,
which can be a universal value, is not mentioned. Using these elements, the campaign
commodifies women as sales items by praising their “benefits” from a patriarchal perspective.
In addition to this anti-feminist ideology, the campaign highlights racist and ethno-centric
views. North Korean refugee women’s origins are considered indistinguishable due to their skin
color, so their children will not be victims of the xenophobia prevalent in South Korea, which is
“the problem of mixed-blood” rather than a societal problem. This advertisement does not reflect
preexisting discrimination towards North Korean refugees and instead promotes bias towards
non-Korean women and multicultural families (See Oh, 2009). Thus, Korean culture and
nationality are more important than humanitarian values, and non-Korean women are a
“problem” or affordable alternative of Koreans here. In addition, this perspective assumes that
cross-border wives aim for hypergamy, which refers to “marrying up.” This is a gender-biased
term because it is typically used in a situation in which a woman marries a man from a higher
social or economic group. In a global sense, it is commonly assumed that women from
developing countries who marry men from developed countries are engaging in hypergamy
regardless of their own socioeconomic status (Constable, 2003). According to this perspective, a
foreign woman who voluntarily marries a South Korean man would benefit from the husband
and his family, and this would be the real reason the industry claims a North Korean woman is
meant to serve her husband and his family. South Korean women are not expected to serve men
and their families in the same way foreign brides would because they consider the male clients
unsuitable for “marrying-up” due to their own economic status (See Chun, 1996).
Regardless of the position in the stratification, all women are portrayed as subservient to
men here. Lloyd (1999) examined online advertising material and found that “mail-order bride”

companies market women based on the stereotypes of foreign women being subservient and
docile, lacking feminist awareness, and being unfamiliar with the modern use of divorce.
Correspondingly, research has shown that in many similar agencies’ advertisements of Asian
women, they are depicted as subordinate, which is rooted in the traditional Asian philosophy and
cultural beliefs related to gender (Frith & Karan, 2008). In reality, the women who are actively
seeking to make a better life for themselves by marrying someone may be those least likely to fit
these traditional stereotypes; however, the agencies’ primary concern is the paying husband, and
therefore they advertise future wives based on the men’s desires and sexual fantasies (Lloyd,
1999).
In Welldding’s advertisement, significant information that could potentially make the
target audiences feel uncomfortable is omitted or distorted. First, the advertisement states that the
influx of female North Koreans can solve the societal problem of the gender gap in South Korea,
while the reason female refugees choose South Korea for their final destination three times more
often than men is not explained (Episode 1). This type of “gendered migration” is typically
highlighted in feminized labor (such as nannies, maids, and sex workers) and cross-border
marriages that give women an international mobility that is inaccessible to men (Ehrenreich &
Hochschild 2003). Unlike the webtoon’s claims, the women did not come to South Korean to
increase the childbirth rate or to resolve the problem of the gender gap but to fulfill their own
personal financial demands. The beautiful cheerleaders (Episode 1) were mostly from privileged
families in North Korea (Chosundotcom, 2014), so they do not have any need to cross the border
for financial demands despite the fantasy promoted by this campaign. Thus, the images of North
Korean “natural beauty” and the wives who “don’t know how to calculate” are misrepresented.
The veiled information signifies that this company does not reveal the fact that women
from developing countries marry their clients due to financial demands, and the advertisement
claims that South Korean women seek marriage for money. This is a powerful tactic to bolster an
audience that has failed to marry a native woman by devaluing South Korean women for their
presupposed hypergamy perspective, which is defined as selfish in this webtoon series. This
hidden message not only represents the preexisting patriarchal system but also strengthens
misogyny towards domestic women in Korean society. In addition, the campaign emphasizes the
differences (especially in appearance) of multicultural families (Episode 8). This is another
misrepresentation of marriage migrants in South Korea. According to official statistics (KNSO,

2016b), 60% of female marriage migrants are from either China or Vietnam, so they have highly
similar complexion to Koreans. Also, more than half of Chinese women among them are
ethnically Koreans (Cháoxiǎnzú) and speak Korean. Thus, North Koreans are not the only people
who share a “bright” skin, a culture, and a language with South Koreans. Moreover, the term
“multicultural family” does not merely refer to the coalition of different ethnic backgrounds but
also to the multiple cultures of the family members. Marriage to a North Korean refugee or to a
Korean-Chinese leads these couples to be legally labeled as multicultural families in South
Korea, which means that a shared ethnic identity does not satisfy “shared culture” as this
webtoon insists. Although all these aspects might be important to the audiences, they are not
mentioned or are distorted by using conflicting standards to define “multicultural families.” This
indicates that in South Korean society, people can be discriminated against due to their origin,
ethnicity, and skin color (Olneck, 2011), and this webtoon rationalizes “bride stratification” by
manipulating South Koreans’ views related to race, ethnicity, and gender.
Lastly, in the eighth episode, the father figure informs his daughter that her mother is a
cross-border bride, but this is “a secret” because his daughter will be discriminated against like
the boy from a multicultural family when her mother’s origin is revealed to society. This episode
conveys a social que—xenophobia—to consider when choosing a wife other than a North
Korean woman. This notion can be problematic due to its potential to reinforce ideologies such
as racism that preexist in Korean society, and it may threaten the budding diversity in Korea.
Because this advertisement represents the ideologies of sexism, racism, and xenophobia
preexisting in Korean society, Korean multiculturalism, as Kim (2007) claimed, is paternalistic
and nationalistic because it values foreign brides as worthy only because they serve Korean men
and can give birth to Korean children, which forces them to become assimilated to Korean
society as obedient wives who do not challenge the status quo.
The multicultural marriage market formed in response to the gender gap that resulted
from a strong patriarchy in Korea (Lee, 1996; Chung & Gupta, 2007). Accordingly, the marriage
campaign of Welldding is shaped by the gender and racial/ethnic structure in South Korea, and
the roles of South Korean, North Korean, and non-Korean women in the advertisement are not
only linked to the hierarchy in the marriage market but also to the social system. Brides from
developing countries, including North Korea, would be valued as biological and cultural
reproducers of Koreans through their “ethnicized maternal citizenship” (Kim, 2013) according to

the perspective of Welldding. The company claims that North Korean refugee women would
better fill the role of “pseudo-us” in comparison with domestic and foreign brides. Their pseudo-
usness is a significant benefit that can allow for hiding the wives’ “second-class citizenship” so
that their children will not be discriminated against as “mixed-blood children” from typical
multicultural families are. Therefore, North Korean refugee women are marginalized based on
their origin, gender, and status as a commodity by the South Korean marriage industry.
Conclusion
This study showed that cross-border marriage advertisements are an extension of the
society’s structure of gender and racial/ethnic stratification. The reality represented in the
advertisement, such as the hierarchy of women, conveys a specific social ideology that the
members of South Korean society are meant to adopt, including patriarchy, nationalism,
xenophobia, and consumerism. Power not only plays a role in legitimating the status quo but is
also jointly produced when people believe or are led to believe where it is; this process of
legitimation is typically conveyed through language and other communicative systems (Machin
& Mayr, 2012). The cross-border matchmaking industry in South Korea does not simply produce
this webtoon campaign, but the campaign also potentially shapes and legitimates the market and
the dominant power of society by conveying specific social beliefs to audiences.
Moreover, in this study, it was found that the webtoon platform is powerful in conveying
ideas to audiences through graphics and texts. In these advertisements, the images and the text
are sources of ideologies related to gender and race. Gender-related images easily construct the
audiences’ perceptions of gender, and the images influence the recipients’ active participation
(Goffman, 1979). In particular, the contents of the webtoon series can easily be shared on social
media and thus have a high potential to attract online users’ “clicks” on the animated figures.
The identities depicted in the webtoons represent the ideology of the marriage industry and what
this industry considers normative, and it delivers these messages to its intended audiences and to
a broader society. Therefore, the values and beliefs in these advertisements can be viewed as
shared meanings in South Korean society. This research thus contributes to the area of
international marriage studies, not only through the study’s methodological approach—as the
first analysis of South Korean international marriage advertisements—but also theoretically by

improving the understanding of this industry through uncovering the sexist and racist aspects of
the campaign.
It also contributes to the understanding of Korean society, a society in which the study of
internal racism is not often explored. South Korea is a growing market regarding its potential
volume of international marriage; however, there is a gap in the research in terms of the
commercial campaigns of this industry. In addition to examining this particular industry, which
is the main goal of this paper, this research contributes to the understanding of South Korean
ideology at large, including its racist and sexist elements; however, although the analysis of the
webtoons points to issues related to the hegemonic ideology of South Korea, some positive
directions in the responses to them can be considered. The series received considerable critical
attention and was withdrawn shortly after it was publicized because Korean society recognized
the overt racism and sexism of the campaign. A systematic analysis of these elements was
performed to highlight their existence and to determine their role in the broader discussion not
only of Korean society but of the marriage industry in which hundreds of agencies advertise both
domestic and foreign brides in Korea. This discussion can be further developed by future studies
that could compare animated commercials of international marriage in Asia to identify the
ideologies that legitimate the industry as well as the societal system.

References
Ahn, J. (2013). Global migration and the racial project in transition: Institutionalizing racial
difference through the discourse of multiculturalism in South Korea. Journal of
Multicultural Discourses, 8(1), 29–47.
Cha, N. Y., Lee, C. S., & Park, J. H. (2016). Construction of obedient foreign brides as exotic
others: How production practices construct the images of marriage migrant women on
Korean television. International Journal of Communication, 10, 19.
Cho, C. (2013, April 2). Stepping toward multiculturalism. The Korea Times. Retrieved from
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130403000964
Choi, M. E., & Chon, B. S. (2014). The influence of motivation to use and key components of
webtoon on user satisfaction. Broadcasting Culture Research, 26(2), 93–120.
Chosundotcom (2014, Jul 13). How to choose a North Korean cheerleader: “Tickets for a star,
which requires good looks, networks, and background.” Chosunilbo, Retrieved from
http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2014/07/13/2014071300555.html?Dep0=twitte
r&d=2014071300555
Chun, C. S. (1996). Mail-order bride industry: The perpetuation of transnational economic
inequalities and stereotypes. University of Pennsylvania Journal of International
Economic Letters, 17, 1155.
Chung, M. & Lee, G. (2005, Aug 31). “I realized how strong I’m attached to my blood-related”:
Welcoming the North Korean athletics in front of Incheon City Hall. Tongilnews,
http://www.tongilnews.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=59218
Chung, W. (2009). The aspects of kisaeng and its meaning within the cultural history in the
Joseon Dynasty. Studies in Korean Classical Women’s Literature, 18, 421-454.
Chung, W., & Gupta, M. D. (2007). The decline of son preference in South Korea: The roles of
development and public policy. Population and Development Review, 33(4), 757–783.
Constable, N. (2003). Romance on a global stage: Pen pals, virtual ethnography, and “mail
order” marriages. CA: Univ of California Press.
Constable, N. (2009). The commodification of intimacy: Marriage, sex, and reproductive
labor. Annual Review of Anthropology, 38, 49-64.
Coupland, N. (2010). “Other” representation. Society and Language Use, 7, 241–260.

Ehrenreich, B., & Hochschild, A. R. (2003). Global woman: Nannies, maids, and sex workers in
the new economy. Macmillan.
Fairclough, N., & Wodak, R. (1997). Critical discourse analysis. In T. A. van Dijk (Ed.),
Discourse as social interaction discourse studies: Vol. 2. A multidisciplinary introduction
(pp. 258–284). London, England: Sage.
Frith, K. T., & Karan, K. (Eds.). (2008). Commercializing women: Images of Asian women in the
media. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Goffman, E. (1979). Gender advertisements. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Grindstaff, L., & West, E. (2006). Cheerleading and the gendered politics of sport. Social
Problems, 53(4), 500–518.
Ju, H & Noh, G. (2013). Multiculturalism and representation of racial others in Korean TV
Dramas. Cartoon & Animation Studies, 32, 335-361.
Kang, D. (2006). The conceptual history of political identity in modern Korea: Gukmin, Injong,
Minjok. The Review of Korean and Asian Political Thoughts, 5(1), 5–35.
Kawaguchi, D., & Lee, S. (2012). Brides for sale: Cross-border marriages and female
immigration. Economic Inquiry. 55(2), 633-654.
Kelly, L. (2001). Marriage for sale: The mail-order bride industry and the changing value of
marriage. Journal of Gender, Race, and Justice, 5, 175–196.
Kim, C. H. (2004). A comparative study on the forms of “the other” in East Asia. Chinese
Modern Literature, 31, 379-403.
Kim, D. C. (2001). Ethnocentrism. Sil-chun-Mun-Hak, 63, 36–51.
Kim, H. (2007). The state and migrant women: Diverging hopes in the making of “multicultural
families” in contemporary Korea. Korea Journal, 47(4), 100–122.
Kim, H. K., & Lee, O. J. (2009). A phenomenological study on the experience of North Korean
refugees. Nursing Science Quarterly, 22(1), 85–88.
Kim, M. (2013). Citizenship projects for marriage migrants in South Korea: Intersecting
motherhood with ethnicity and class. Social Politics, 20(4), 455-481.
Klass, T. (1995, September 10). Mail-order bride business booming despite Seattle courthouse
slayings. L.A. Times, Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/1995-09-10/local/me-
44248_1_mail-order-susana-remerata-blackwell-marriage
Korea National Statistical Office. (2016a). Future population estimates 2015-2065.

Korea National Statistical Office. (2016b). Trend of international marriages in 2000s.

Lee, H. (1996). Korean patriarchy and women. Korean Journal of Women and Society, 7, 160-
176.
Lee, M. (2008). Mixed race peoples in the Korean national imaginary and family. Korean
Studies, 32(1), 56–85.
Lloyd, K. A. (1999). Wives for sale: The modern international mail-order bride industry.
Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business, 20, 341.
Machin, D., & Mayr, A. (2012). How to do Critical Discourse Analysis. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (2017). Survey of international marriage brokerage in
Korea 2017.
Ministry of Unification (2018). Trend of influx of North Korean refugees.
Myers, B. R. (2011). The cleanest race: How North Koreans see themselves and why it matters.
Melville House.
Oh, M. (2009). Stigmatization of the mixed-bloods. Korean Social Welfare, 61(2), 215–246.
Olneck, M. R. (2011). Facing multiculturalism’s challenges in Korean education and society.
Asia Pacific Education Review, 12(4), 675–690.
Park, S. (2014, Aug 26). In the underwear, ‘Seo-bang-nim’?: Complaints on a marriage agency’s
‘shaming North Korean women’ advertisement. Hankyoreh, Retrieved from
http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/society_general/652801
Ryabovolova, A. (2017). We have been to Bolotnaya: Russian protest, the online public sphere,
and the discourse of division. In P. Surowiec & V. Štetka (Eds.), Social media and
politics in central and eastern Europe (pp. 123–141). NY: Routledge.
Shin, H. (2007). A study on the dress style of hyeongugorye (見舅姑禮) in the late Joseon
Dynasty. Hanbok Culture, 10(1), 83–97.
Song, M. K. (2011). Tradition and transformation of jae-dam repertory based on paldo trip.
Journal of Korean Culture, 16, 291-336.
Sung, K. T. (2001). Elder respect: Exploration of ideals and forms in East Asia. Journal of Aging
Studies, 15(1), 13–26.
United Nations (2017). International migration report 2017. New York, NY.

North Korean Freedom Coalition (2017). North Korean refugee women: Destitution and human
trafficking in China, Presented in the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women, New York, NY.
Villapando, V. (2000). The business of selling mail-order brides. In M. Plott & L. Umanski
(Eds.), Making sense of women’s lives: An introduction to women’s studies (pp. 178–
184). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Little.

"The Benefits of North Korean Women". On The Border Between Foreign and Domestic Brides PDF

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Оригинальное название

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

"The Benefits of North Korean Women". On The Border Between Foreign and Domestic Brides PDF

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

“The Benefits of North Korean Women”:

On the Border between Foreign and Domestic Brides

Biography. Sarah Cho is an ABD at the Department of Communication, University of

“The Benefits of North Korean Women”:

Keywords: marriage industry, advertisement, webtoon, North Korean refugee, xenophobia

“The Benefits of North Korean Women”:

1) Men and their families as the center of marriage

Figure 1. Title page

Figure 2. Episode 6 – “They take care of the husband’s parents”

2) North Korean women are similar to “us”

Figure 3. Episode 1 – “They are all pretty”

Figure 4. North Korean cheerleaders (Photo credit: Tong-il-news)

3) South Korean women seeking profits in marriage

Figure 7. Episode 4 – “They are unlike women in our country”

4) Non-Korean women causing miscommunication and mixed-blood children

Figure 8. Episode 8 – “They are free from the blood-mix problem”

Korea National Statistical Office. (2016b). Trend of international marriages in 2000s.

Вам также может понравиться