Vietnamese women marriage migrants in South Korea: A study of their sense of well-being in the process of their settlement

The purpose of this study is to understand the experience of the Vietnamese women marriage migrants overcoming difficulties in the process of settlement in South Korea through international marriage, and to suggest the directions for achieving a stable settlement by maintaining their sense of well-being, based on the factors overcoming their difficulties. For this purpose, the research question in this study was set as: 'To what extent do the resources of Vietnamese women marriage migrants against the challenges in their settlement to South Korea influence their sense of well-being?' I applied the phenomenological method of Giorgi and Schutze’s biographical narrative interview method to analyse the interview data in the qualitative research methodology. Participants of this study, the Vietnamese women marriage migrants, were found to have the curiosity and desire to live in a new country free from the reality of difficult family situations and a poor society, and they chose international marriage with great anticipation and longing for South Korea. However, they have gone through many difficulties during their settlement process. Two factors are crucial: Without enough information on their marriage migration, and their family’s strong opposition, led to their worries about international marriage before migration. Even after migration, they spent the time of pregnancy, childbirth and child care without the help of their husbands under the influence of their mothers-in-law who showed an authoritarian style within their family. Outside their family, they were discriminated against and ignored by South Koreans with added inconveniences caused by the unfamiliar surroundings and their limited communication. The factors that overcome the difficulties and maintain their sense of well-being in the settlement process, are found in four aspects: internally, externally, transnationally, and demographically. The results of this study provide in-depth data not only to understand the experiences of the Vietnamese marriage migrants, but also to expand support programmes and centres for their stable settlement in South Korean society.