• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.61-73
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• 2007

This study looks into their process to wedding for Vietnamese brides and the motives of their marriage of whom are living in rural areas near an urban city, and the difficulties of their living in Korea. The mist significant motive of their marriage for the Vietnamese brides if financial reasons. They also think that Korean men are well-off and reliable and that the men's occupations or the age are any matter to be considered. As for the Korean men married to Vietnamese brides, the mist significant motive of their marriage is that Vietnamese brides are considered to be good-natured hardworking, sincere and respectful of the elderly. The wedding process usually takes place in 5-6 days through matchmaking, and the background of their Korean man gets inflated by their matchmaking agency. Some of the most significant difficulties for their life in Korea are due to the language barrier, their husbands' incompetence for a living, conceptions before the young brides get adjusted to Korean living. Most significant support networks are their husbands/families, and their neighbors, relatives and friends that can share Korean cultures and Vietnamese cultures with them. At last, the local communities should continuously offer them educational opportunities for Korean language and social/ cultural understanding.

• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.73-99
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• 2010

To properly answer the question 'Why have Vietnamese Women kept appearing in Korean Films and TV dramas?', We need to induce Postcolonial discourse along with historical and cultural similarities between Korea and Vietnam. It is because the relationship of two countries can be defined as a neocolonialism specially in view of economic relationship. Koreans need to locate themselves on the superior position by othering Vietnamese women, who are close enough to be compared and also distant enough to be othered. This paper is intended to bring their being in Korean films and TV dramas under the light of postcolonial discourse. According to the postcolonial concepts such as ambivalence, stereotyping and subaltern, Korean films and TV dramas are classified into three groups, which are Vietnam war melodramas, Horror movies based in Vietnam, and TV dramas with Vietnamese brides. War melodramas have been othering Vietnamese woman through ambivalence of the fear of Vietcom warrior and the fascination of exotic beauty. Horror movies, produced about 10 years later, brought the Vietnamese women back to Korean audience, stereotyping them into ghosts, which are incarnated through the suppression and eruption of sexual desire. The third group consists mainly of TV dramas. Their story usually evolves around Vietnamese brides migrating into Korea. The women are forced into the position of Subaltern, not representing themselves in their own voices. Facing multi-cultural society, our visual media are requested to modify their neocolonial approach of presenting Vietnamese women. To accomplish the goal, they have to find ways of storytelling to show the women in their everyday lives and help them to speak for themselves.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.108-118
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate life stress, social support, and antepartum depression among Southeast Asian immigrant women married to Korean men. Methods: Ninety-three subjects were recruited from local women's clinics and multicultural family support centers in D City. The instruments used were the life stress scale, social support scale, and K-EPDS. All the instruments were translated into their corresponding mother languages (Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Philippine) and notarized. Results: The item mean scores of life stress and social support were 2.65 and 3.17, respectively, on a 5-point Likert scale. The mean score of antepartum depression was 10.16, indicating that they were generally in a depressive state. A positive correlation was observed between life stress and antepartum depression (r=.59, p<.001). Social support was negatively correlated with life stress (r=-.42, p<.001) and antepartum depression (r=-.39, p<.001). The best predictors for antepartum depression were life stress, marital satisfaction, and emotional support, and they explained 43% of the variance. Conclusion: Antepartum depression in Southeast Asian immigrant brides was significantly associated with life stress as well as lack of emotional support. Emotional support may reduce their life stress and antepartum depression.