Three held in Vietnam for brokering marriages
HANOI — Three Vietnamese were detained in Ho Chi Minh City for parading 65 young women to two South Korean men as part of an illegal marriage brokering service, police said Monday.
The 46-year-old man and two women, aged 42 and 24, were detained in the Dai Nam restaurant of Binh Thanh district, said a police officer, adding an investigation was underway.
According to the Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper, the ringleader Huynh Van Binh told police he had organised four similar events.
He had introduced around 240 local women to South Korean men since 2005 and earned 1,500 dollars for each successful case, the paper reported.
Vietnam has recently become a popular destination for bachelors from South Korea, Taiwan and elsewhere searching for wives, often on week-long trips that include medical checkups, visa procedures and speedy honeymoons.
Thousands of young Vietnamese women marry South Korean men each year in deals arranged by so-called "marriage tours" costing between 3,000-5,000 dollars.
The International Organisation for Migration, Vietnam's Women's Union and Justice Ministry announced last week they had set up an information website at http://www.vovietchonghan.org warning Vietnamese women about the risks of a new life abroad.
Agence France Presse - September 23, 2007.
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