Statistics Korea said 33,300 South Koreans tied the knot with foreigners in 2009, accounting for 10.8 percent of all marriages in the country. It marks a big increase from 4,710, or 1.2 percent, in 1990 but a decline from 42,356, or 13.5 percent, in 2005.

Chinese and Vietnamese brides were the most popular, numbering 11,364 and 7,249 respectively. The number of Mongolian wives stood at 386, lower than Filipino brides (1,643), Japanese (1,140), Cambodians (851), Thais (496), and the US (416), but higher than Uzbekistani (365) and Nepalese (316).