Sociological Study of the Cultural Differences in Korean-Russian Mixed Marriages

According to Korean statistics in South Korean 90489 marriages between Koreans and foreigners were registered. The share of marriages with Russians was 835, among them 523 mar­riages between Russian women and Korean men. For the present study of the cultural differences in Korean-Russian mixed marriages the method of semi-structural interview was selected. This method gives a good opportunity to gather the necessary information and to interpret the object of research in details. The empirical research was conducted in Seoul, South Korea in 2010. Ten Russian women in the age from 19 to 31 years old, married the citizens of the Republic of Korea, participated in the study. Following the opinions of the respondents, the most difficult thing in family life in mixed Korean-Russian marriages - it is not even the difference in mentality with their husbands, but communi­cation with husband's relatives, the obligation to visit them during the collective family holidays (Lunar new year, the harvest festival "Chusok") when crowds of relatives gather in parent's home. Russian women definitely emphasized the differences in celebrating holidays, family rituals and ceremonies of life cycle. Cultural differences in such marriages are quite big due to specific scenarios of children's socialization in two societies. In the same time various actual differences in presented research were not found out because of the length of marriage of the respondents. Young Russian women and their Korean husbands who participated in the research were in their so called "honeymoon" period. It is also worth mentioning that the cultural context of ethnic relations and global trends change nowadays so rapidly that in several years Korean-Russian marriages will turn from some­what exotic and unusual into ordinary and routine practice.