Requerimientos y propiedades ideales de un indicador

Besides the publicly produced data, I also collected data through my own field

research. How the data from my field research and my experience in the field needs to be addressed briefly, however. There are several theoretical and methodological concerns that students of sociology grapple with, such as structural–individual

relations and multilevel—for example, local, national, and global—analysis. Although I went to the field with a fairly well-defined conceptual framework and research proposal, both were challenged during my fieldwork experience.

The information, which I obtained in the field through the observation and interviews, enriched my understanding of my research subject. It also led me to modify my theoretical framework and my research focus. I discuss some of the details of my fieldwork in this section on methods to explain the process of the field research itself. I also return to it later on to describe my understanding of the process of cross-border marriage.

My field research was conducted in multiple sites in Korea and Vietnam from September 2007 to July 2008. I spent the first month establishing contacts and mapping out the institutional configuration in each country. While I reviewed government documents, policy papers and newspapers, I also talked to numerous people in the governments, NGOs and the academy. The relevant institutions in Korea are summarized in the Table 3.2. Then, I moved to the rural area and conducted participant observation and interviews. My interviews with Vietnamese marriage migrants and their husbands in Korea were conducted in the first phase. I then moved

to Vietnam and visited my interviewees’ hometowns and interviewed their family members and neighbors. I was affiliated with the International Organization for

Migration in Ho Chi Minh City as an intern. While I was staying in Ho Chi Minh City, I established contacts with the Women’s Union, a governmental organization, which is in charge of issues of cross-border marriages. There I reviewed reports published by international agencies and NGOs. Overall, 14 Vietnamese marriage migrants, 11 of their husbands in Korea, 22 parents of marriage migrants, and 15 single women in a primary sending neighborhood were also interviewed27. In addition, I interviewed 3 brokers and observed in the process of marriage brokerage arranged by a commercial agency. In Vietnam, I witnessed Korean bridegrooms’ selecting their prospective Vietnamese wives, and joined them on the city tour with their prospective spouses over the course of three days.

Table 3.2 List of Relevant Institutions Korea

Governmental Organizations and Research Institutes Ministry of Gender

Equality28 in charge of general family policies and runs a _{national network of Marriage Migrants Support} Centers

Korea Women’s Development Institute Ministry of Justice runs the Immigration Office

Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs

traditionally dealt with population and family

policies in recent decades Korea Institute of Health and Social Affairs

Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery

sees cross-border marriage in terms of rural bachelor issues

Ministry of

Administration and Security

Started to produce foreign resident survey from 2007

The Low Fertility, Aging Society Commission

deals with cross-border marriage and multicultural families in terms of national population issues The National Human

Rights Commission

addresses human rights violations in the process of cross-border marriage and human rights issues within the lives of multicultural families National Assembly

The Committee for

Women deal with issues of marriage migrants and multicultural families The Committee for

Health, Welfare and Family

Governmental Program for Multicultural Family under the Ministry of Gender Equality Central Office for

Multicultural Family Support Centers

Develops and distributes the support program for multicultural family, runs the pilot policy project for multicultural families, trains and evaluates the social workers for the programs, supports the management of local centers, and deals with the public relations http://liveinkorea.mog ef.go.kr/changelocale. do Local Multicultural Family Support Centers

Offers educational program including Korean language, cultural integration, childcare, job training, and counseling and translating services. Emergency Support

Center for Migrant Women

Emergency call center for domestic violence http://www.wm1366. or.kr/

28 _{The regime changed in February 2008, and the composition and name of the ministry has changed.} One of the major change regarding cross-border marriage is that family affair has moved from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (now the Ministry of Gender Equality) to the Ministry of Health and Welfare (now the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs). Later, it was moved back to the Ministry of Gender Equality in 2010.

Table 3.2 List of Relevant Institutions (Continued) Korea

Governmental Program for Multicultural Family under the Ministry of Gender Equality Pre-departure

Orientation Program in Ho Chi Minh City

Awareness program for Vietnamese brides supported by Ministry of Gender Equality in Korea, Women’s Union in Vietnam, IOM and run by the Korean Committee for UN Human Rights Policy

Non-Governmental Organizations29

The Korean Migrant Women’s Human Rights Center

started as a support group for women migrant workers in 2001, extended its mission to all migrant women in Korea in 2003 and established a migrant women’s emergency hotline service in 2006

The Ansan

Immigrant Center established the Migrant Women Counseling Center in 2005 and Kosian’s30 _{House in 2000,}

which engages in the issue of second- generation cross-border-marriage couples. The Association for

Foreign Workers’ Human Rights in Pusan

established the Migrant Women and Multicultural Family Center in 2005

29 _{Before this network of Multicultural Family Support Center was established, a number of local NGOs} took care of issues associated with marriage migrants and multicultural families. As this network was established, some of these groups were integrated into this network because funds for Marriage Migrant Support Centers were distributed to the local groups who run programs for marriage migrants. In a way, local Marriage Migrants Support Centers in the network share the same source of funding and a certain schema for supporting marriage migrants; however, the operation of the local center is up to the organization that runs the local Marriage Migrants Support Center. When it comes to the local level, the boundary between the government and NGO is not entirely clear. NGOs who took initiative on the issues around cross-border marriage were those who support migrant workers. Some organizations, such as the Ansan Immigrant Center and the Korean Human Rights Center for Migrant Workers, had a regular gathering among cross-border marriage couples but most of them were couples of female Korean workers and male migrant workers in Korea. As marriage migration increased, the needs for supporting marriage migrants were necessary. In addition, the cases of domestic violence of marriage migrants were often reported to the counseling services of NGOs supporting migrant workers. These NGOs transferred the cases to women’s groups because NGOs supporting migrant workers usually offered legal counseling for labor-related issues. However, women’s groups who dealt with violence against women did not have enough experience and resources to assist marriage migrants. Gradually, some of the NGOs supporting migrant workers developed their own programs for marriage migrants.

Table 3.3 List of Interviewees In Korea In Vietnam Name Year of Birth/Age Name Year of Birth/Age Name Year of Birth/Age Name Year of Birth/Age Vietnamese women who

married Korean men

Korean Husband and

family Single women Parents

VWK1 1984 KH1 44 VW1 1976 VF1 71 VWK2 1983 KF1 VW2* 1989 VM1 53 VWK3 1980 KH2 44 VW3 1987 VF2 1953 VWK4 1986 KH3 48 VW4* 1985 VM2 1950 VWK5 1984 KH4 42 VW5 1977 VF3 1965 VWK6 1984 KH5 40 VW6 1993 VM3 1966 VWK7 1980 KH6 37 VW7 1990 VM4 VWK8 1973 KH7 39 VW8 1986 VF5 1953 VWK9 1985 KH8 45 VW9 1983 VM5 1958 VWK10 1986 KF2 43 VW10 1978 VM6 1965 VWK11 1984 VM0 VW11 1990 VM7 1958 VWK12 1982 VW12 1990 VF8 1951 VWK13 1983 VW13 1989 VM8 1956 VWK14 1974 VW14 1990 VM9 1964 VW15 1988 VM10 1947 VM11 69 VM12 1957 VM13 1963 Brokers* VM14 40 BV1 VM15 1956 BK1 43 VF16 1955 BK2 VM16 1961

Note. KH=Korean Husband, KF=Korean Family Member, VWK=Vietnamese Women marriage migrant in Korea, VW=Single Vietnamese Women, VW*=Vietnamese Women who married Korean men but wait for the paper work, VF=Vietnamese Father, VM=Vietnamese Mother, BV= Broker in Vietnam, BK=Broker in Korea