Most Korean man-foreign woman couples seeking divorce are facing financial woes이혼 상담 받은 '다문화 부부' 대부분

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Most "international" couples comprised of a Korean citizen husband and a foreign national wife who were on the verge of divorce in 2020 suffered from financial difficulties, according to the Korea Legal Aid Center for Family Relations. 한국가정법률상담소에 따르면 2020년 이혼 위기에 몰린 '다문화 부부'(한국인 남편과 외국인 아내 부부) 대부분이 경제적 어려움을 겪은 것으로 나타났다. The center published statistics related to 708 such cases in which it offered divorce-related legal counseling last year. 한국가정법률상담소는 지난해 이혼 관련 법률상담을 한 708건에 대한 통계를 냈다. Among them, 65 percent of the sessions were carried out at the request of the Korean husbands, while the rest were at the request of the wives. 이 가운데 65%가 한국인 남편의 요청으로 진행됐고, 나머지는 외국인 아내의 요청으로 진행됐다. With regards to their financial situation, 83.8 percent of the immigrant wives and 61.9 percent of the Korean husbands said they did not have a stable income. Some 25 percent of the wives said that they were homemakers, and 21.5 percent of the Korean husbands said that they were unemployed. 경제적 상황에 대해서는 외국인 아내의 83.8%, 한국인 남편의 61.9%가 안정적인 수입이 없다고 답했다. 직업별로는 외국인 아내의 25%가 주부, 한국인 남편의 21.5%가 무직이라고 답했다. "Couples in multicultural marriages had more factors that could lead to a divorce from the beginning of their marriages, such as financial difficulties and large age gaps," a center official said. 상담소 관계자는 "아내가 외국인인 다문화 가정은 혼인 성립 시부터 연령차, 경제적 빈곤 등 갈등 유발 요인이 더 많은 것으로 나타났다"고 분석했다. The cases in which both men and women had married for the first time accounted for the largest proportion of the respondents, at 26.1 percent, followed by the cases in which both men and women were in their second marriages, at 22.8 percent. 남녀 모두 초혼인 경우가 26.1%로 가장 많았고, 양쪽 다 재혼이 22.8%로 뒤를 이었다. "Among the Korean citizen husband-immigrant wife couples, 37.5 percent were cases in which at least one spouse was in their second marriage. That figure is much higher than the 19.7 percent of the Korean national-only couples in which at least one spouse was in their second marriage, tallied in divorce counseling cases," the official said. 상담소 관계자는 "다문화가정의 이혼 상담에서 재혼 부부가 차지하는 비율은 37.5%로 일반 가정의 이혼 상담에서 재혼 부부가 차지하는 비율(19.7%)보다 훨씬 높다"고 설명했다. 코리아타임스위클리 "시사와 영어를 한 번에" Korea Times Weekly

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