



By Jung Min-ho







International marriages in Korea increased sharply in 2018, the latest government data show.





According to Statistic Korea's data revealed Wednesday, there were 22,698 marriages between a Korean national and a foreigner last year, up 8.9 percent from 2017.





The rise was the sharpest in 13 years.





Marriages between a Korean husband and a foreign wife accounted for 73.2 percent.





Among the wives, Vietnamese made up 38.2 percent, followed by Chinese (22.1 percent) and Thai (9.4 percent).





Among the foreign husbands, Chinese made up 24.4 percent, followed by Americans (23.6 percent) and Vietnamese (9.6 percent).





International couples accounted for 8.8 percent of all marriages registered here.

