From Malaysia Chronicle
She married him, but she did not love him. Photo from SPH
HA NOI – Nguyen Thuy Vinh met her future South Korean husband in Hai Duong four years ago through an acquaintance.
She later married him, even though she did not love him. Vinh could not help but felt nervous about her future before she boarded her plane for South Korea.
As she watched her husband feed her four-year-old son at a small party during a short trip back to Viet Nam, Vinh, 32, said she eventually found happiness in her marriage. Vinh then began to soothe and whisper in Korean to her son.
Vinh’s happiness, however, didn’t come easily.
“I tried very hard to learn Korean before the marriage. I even applied and got hired by a Korean company before my first trip to my husband’s house in Korea. I wanted to know about Korean culture,” she said.
Vinh agrees that she was luckier than many Vietnamese girls who moved to Korea to get married.
With her knowledge of Korean culture, Vinh quickly adapted to her new life and started becoming more involved with community activities in Korea.
She joined the local women’s union and worked as a translator for the police, whenever there was a domestic dispute between a Vietnamese woman and her Korean husband.
Two months ago, the women’s union, with Vinh’s assistance, were able to help a young and pretty Vietnamese bride named Chi.
Her husband’s family forbade her from interacting with anyone outside of the family because they were worried that she might be convinced to leave the family behind, said Vinh.
Staff from the women’s union and Vinh eventually met up with Chi at her school.
“She burst into tears when she saw us,” Vinh said. “She had a four-month-old son and didn’t have anyone to communicate with.”
The union and Vinh were then able to raise money to buy food and clothes for Chi. They also comforted Chi by visiting and talking to her.
Read the full article from Malaysia Chronicle.
