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F oreign spouses of Korean citizens will be required to pass a Korean language profi- ciency test when applying for an F-6 marriage visa, beginning in April. The stated minimum criteria is level 1 (the lowest level) of the Test of Proficiency in Ko- rean conducted by the Korean Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, or the completion of basic Korean language courses offered by accredited organizations. The Ministry of Justice said it will later iden- tify the courses that it perceives to be equiva- lent to the standard of TOPIK’s level 1. In addition, Koreans with foreign spous- es must earn at least 14.79 million won ($13,700) annually to demonstrate their fi- nancial stability. But if the income of the foreign spouse, or another family member living with the Kore- an, is equivalent to that amount, the income requirement will be fulfilled. If a couple has a child, however, they are exempt from both requirements. The change is part of the ministry’s move to strengthen visa rules, after a spate of reports highlighted troubles among multiethnic cou- ples, especially between Korean men marry- ing women from Southeast Asian countries. The frictions range from husbands assaulting their wives to conflicts with in-laws to brides who run away abruptly. “As we look into couples suffering problems, we found that the cause of misunderstandings and relationship troubles often stems from language barriers, which hampers them from properly settling their problems,” an official of the immigrant policy division at the Ministry of Justice told JoongAng Ilbo. “The ministry is enforcing those rules to prevent such issues.” However, foreign spouses who have stayed in Korea for one year or have majored in Ko- rean language at a university can be exempted from the new requirements. Couples who can communicate in a language other than Korean can also receive a waiver. Given that couples such as Korean women and Western men generally communicate in English, the new rules will mainly affect Ko- rean men marrying women from Southeast Asian countries. “As for the marri ages between Korean men, who mostly live in the countryside, and Southeast Asian women, they sometimes tie the knot in seven or eight days after meeting through an agency,” the ministry official said. “In this case, troubles are bound to happen be- cause they barely know each other.” As more young Korean women leave their hometowns for careers in big cities, men in rural counties are increasingly looking over- seas for brides. The trend has been translated into a large in- flux of brides from poorer Asian nations such as Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines. The number of Koreans marrying foreign spouses increased from 4,710 in 1990 to 29,224 in 2012, according to Statistics Korea. But Korea has been grappling with shifting demographics and many of those marriages don’t turn out well. The number of divorce cases involving a Ko- rean and a foreign spouse increased to 10,887 in 2012, a drastic increase from 1,744 in 2000, according to Statistics Korea. T he hanok market in Daegu, situated in a residential area not far from Camp Walker and Camp Henry, wasn’t hard to spot. The woman who answered the door was in her 60s and quickly ushered in her guests, leading the way to a room filled with imported goods. When asked whether these products were legitimate, she admitted they had come from American Post Exchange (PX) markets. “We sell the imported goods coming from the PX market pretty cheap, so a lot of customers come looking for them,” she added. In major grocery stores in Korea, for exam- ple, imported chocolates usually cost about 15,000 won ($14) for a 900-gram package. But here, they sell for just 6,000 won. One such customer, surnamed Lee, recently bought a bottle of liquor for 70,000 won in a clothing shop in Pyeongtaek. That same bottle, which came from a nearby American PX mar- ket, usually sells for between 120,000 won and 130,000 won in regular stores. “It’s not only liquors; they also sell food and sometimes medicine at half the price you nor- mally see,” Lee said. American PX black markets waned in the early 2000s, but they’ve begun to reemerge in recent years as the result of a sluggish economy. In the 1980s and 1990s, consumers mainly longed for rare American items, but financial uncertainty has increased general demand for cheap goods. And that’s where PX markets come in. Because there are no import tariffs on PX goods, even if smugglers and sellers uptick prices for their own profit those products are still cheaper than at market value. In Uijeongbu and Dongducheon, where the movement of PX goods was once strictly con- trolled and eventually vanished, there has been a resurgence of black markets, as well as in Daegu, Pyeongtaek and Osan. The goods there are smuggled out of the military bases and sold in nearby shops and markets. Some stores in Daegu’s Bongdeok Market mark smuggled PX items as “imported goods.” Even blankets for American soldiers are for sale in Daegu’s Gyodong Market. “The middleman will ask his family or the American soldiers in the camp to bring stuff out from the (military’s) PX market and will provide commission,” said another man sur- named Lee, who admitted that he was in- volved in smuggling PX products a few years ago. “They bring items out a little at a time. There are normally military police that check for goods, but it’s ju st a formal procedure. No one actually gets caught.” Then the middlemen sell those goods to retailers, Lee continued. “The price doubles from what it was in the PX market on the mil- itary base, but it’s still a lot cheaper than the market price,” he said. Perpetrators caught smuggling PX goods or selling them on the black market can face up to five years in prison. A customer who know- ingly buys products from a PX market can also be imprisoned for up to three years or get slapped with a fine. But even though a slew of PX markets can be found around town, authorities have re- frained from making efforts to control the situation. And police and local governments stand by that decision. The district office claimed it was not in charge of controlling the smuggling of goods from PX markets, but rather, was only respon- sible for reporting a false indication of the ori- gin of goods in import declarations. “According to current laws, the taxation au- thority has to sue the relevant office first in order for us to start an investigation,” a police official said. smuGGliNG From u.s. Army bAsEs oN ThE risE NEw visA rEGulATioNs For NEwlywED ForEiGN sPousEs oF KorEANs 29