National Human Rights Commission of Korea Welcomes the Abolition of Local Government Ordinances and Related Programs Supporting International Marriages That Violate Human Rights
NHRCK will continue to strive for an equal society and the protection of the human rights of migrant women.
□ National Human Rights Commission of Korea (hereinafter referred to as ‘NHRCK’) welcomes the abolition of projects that provide financial support for marriage based on the so-called ‘international marriage support ordinances’ in 25 local governments nationwide, including Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, on 14 April 2025.
□ The ‘International Marriage Support Ordinance’ is an ordinance that provides financial support for marriage expenses, including marriage brokerage fees, for rural unmarried men who marry migrant women. Since 2006, it has served as the legal basis for local governments to implement programs such as ‘Rural Bachelors’ Marriage Support,’. However, the programme has faced criticism for various reasons, including the practice of purchasing foreign women through marriage brokerage firms for marriage, which amounts to human trafficking, and the treatment of foreign migrant women as tools for childbirth and childcare.
□ In particular, under the pretext of addressing the issue of rural population decline:
○ First, the Ordinance encourages the practice of purchasing foreign migrant women through marriage brokerage agencies, which constitutes marriage trafficking.
Second, the Ordinance prioritises the marriage between rural unmarried men and foreign women itself over measures to support the social inclusion of foreign migrant women, such as education and living stability services.
Third, the Ordinance treats migrant women as entities obligated to perform unpaid labour within the family, such as childcare, housework, and farming.
Fourth, the Ordinance utilises migrant women as tools for rural population increase policies without addressing policy responses to issues such as the poor adaptation of children from multicultural families in public education or the severe domestic violence faced by migrant women.
and the fact that the Ordinance reduces migrant women to de facto second-class citizens who will fill the positions of domestic women, have led to continued criticism that the ordinance is inappropriate.
□ NHRCK and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family had reported that the ordinance in question ‘needs to be improved based on a human rights perspective in order to establish marriage and to ensure family life based on the dignity of the individual and gender equality’ and recommended improvements.*
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〈 Recommendations provided by NHRCK and Ministry of Gender Equality and Family* >
- Recommendations for improvements, including revising ordinances and programme contents in line with gender equality, such as stable settlement support for immigrants, and strengthening follow-up management (Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, 2020, Gender-Specific Impact Assessment on International Marriage Support Programmes; 46 ordinances and international marriage support programmes)
- ‘Recommendation of improvements to the international marriage support system from a human rights perspective to ensure the establishment of marriage and family life based on human dignity and gender equality (NHRCK, 2019 Second Migrant Human Rights Guidelines)
- NHRCK's opinion that measures must be taken to prevent the recurrence of similar cases, and that the project—aimed at boosting population by recruiting foreign women to marry unmarried men in rural areas and give birth—should be reviewed from a gender equality perspective within the framework of population growth policies. (July 14, 2022)
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□ Despite these efforts, as of November 2023, 25 local governments, including Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, still maintain international marriage support ordinances, and issues such as marriage trafficking targeting migrant women persist. As a result, on 11 December 2023, a complaint (23 Complaint 1027300) requesting the abolition of ordinances supporting international marriage was filed with NHRCK.
□ Accordingly, since December 2023, NHRCK has been consulting with 25 local governments for over a year to abolish or improve relevant ordinances and projects from a human rights perspective.
○ During the consultation process, NHRCK emphasized that: △ Local governments have a duty to review whether the objectives and content of international marriage support policies and programmes are gender-equitable and free from concerns such as perpetuating gender stereotypes and exclusion, and to implement them accordingly;
△ If policies to address population decline are urgently needed to increase the population, alternative measures beyond marriage should be considered, and support systems for population attraction should ensure that indigenous and migrant populations, as well as women and men, receive democratic and equal support;
△ It is important to emphasise that policies should be promoted in a way that embraces diverse family structures and promotes multicultural coexistence.
□ Through the efforts of NHRCK and cooperation of 25 local governments nationwide, all international marriage support ordinances have been abolished or are scheduled to be abolished by the first half of this year, as of 9 April 2025.
□ NHRCK once again express its special gratitude to the heads of the 25 local governments and related officials who actively cooperated in the abolition of gender-discriminatory ordinances, and will continue to strive for a world free of discrimination and equal protection of the human rights of migrant women.
14 April 2025
An Chang-ho
Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of Korea
