Vulnerability, Resilience and Well-being of Intermarriage: An Ethnographic Approach to Korean Women

Korean women who immigrate into the U.S. following their American husbands face a harsh reality. A new Korean wife and American husband may find themselves in unfamiliar situations that expose their marital life to vulnerability and cause their marriage to end quickly. This study endeavors to describe the diverse patterns of inequality in the marital life of select couples, and the resilience that Korean women display in their American lives after marital crises, such as divorce. The study also explores the relationship between “social factors,” including financial status, familial relations, age, activities in the community, and the situation of “psychosocial well-being” among such Korean women. Through intensive interviews of Korean women who married American soldiers, the study shows that differences in culture, income, and the historical hierarchy inherent in the political/military relationship between South Korea and the U.S. are significant in explaining the social and psychological well-being of Korean women and their modes of survival and adaptation to life in American society. The cases analyzed in this study demonstrated that these women were weak and vulnerable socially as well as psychologically