Precluding Han-Gook's Wave
- A Lesson from Cambodia -

By Atom Sunil Singh *

In the era of globalization, the geo-politics of resources is big issue in the present world. Geo-political significance of South Asia and Southeast Asia are the major hot spots due to bulging of human resources. Of being homogeneous characteristics as developing countries, these regions are the realms for dumping areas for the developed countries.

Furthermore, Manipur is located the frontline between the two regions. Becoming by persistence of unrest, being a culture of Manipur, it can be easily carried out to tackle opportunity on resource geopolitics.

The foreign goods are flooding in the market of Manipur from day-to-day basic needs to luxurious commodities. Originating from a peninsula of the Yellow Sea and the East Sea, the geopolitical influence of Han Gook or Dae Han Min Gook, the Korean wave becomes a focus point in Manipur since very recent past.

This wave, Hallyu or Hanryu, passes through the routes where similar look regions of the Asian countries particularly in Southeast Asian countries. Korean actors and actresses' hair cut, style, dress etc. have been become a new fashion among Manipuri youths. Exhibiting the scenic beauty and high standard of livelihood from Korean serials and movies, Han-Gook is believed to be the Shangri-la located only on the earth. Many people start dreaming about to visit the bliss at least once in their life span.

Of the same kind of dream already comes true in Vietnam and Cambodia. Those who want to transform their life as much as attractive or happier of those Korean actors and actresses, many utter about to settle in Korea.

Having a home in Korea make possible very easily within six days. Attracting the articulation, the migration of population to Korea is tremendously aroused from just 72 heads only in 2004 to some 1,759 migrants from Cambodia in 2007. Such kind of phenomenon is shifted from the Vietnam to Cambodia and now moving towards one of the most hotspot geostrategic area of Manipur.

Fantasized by Korean movies and serials, youths thinking about to visit the dreamland at least one day in their life make possible without expending a penny of money. The minimum qualification to immigrate to Korea is simply that any female usually from rural areas age between early teens to early 20's whether educated or uneducated.

The process of emigration is happened only through marriage to Korean groom. Any bride who wants to marry a Korean groom will get money in return to her family. In case of Cambodia, groom pays about US $ 1,000 to the bride's family as well as money to cover the costs of the wedding.

Brides and grooms meet through a matrimonial alliance's broker, for instance "Mr. Cupid". The broker initially contacts the Korean grooms by advertising as "Come to Cambodia today and we guarantee that your visit will be fruitful, you will find the lady of your dreams waiting for you right there". The processes for selection of bride are already made through online services.

Then again brides are often lured by billboards, which show the South Korean scenic beauty of the countryside with renowned Korean actors and actresses, advertising marriage services to foreigners. Through some 2,000 to 3,000 marriage agencies operating in South Korea, the South Korean grooms are storming towards Cambodia with a big dream.

Bride selection often takes place in a hotel or restaurant where as many as 100 women are lined up. After a woman is chosen, details are worked out between the groom and bride-to-be and the broker. The broker will get as much as an amount of US $ 20,000 as a commission. A marriage is held after a few days, followed in some cases with a short honeymoon. The groom then returns to his home country, Korea with his newly married bride.

The main cause of this supercharging wave in Cambodia is due to crackdown of the international match making brokers in Vietnam. Very recently, matchmaking brokers are also illegal in Cambodia.

Furthermore, the wave seems to be looked toward Manipur thereby the government of Cambodia has again suspended marriages between foreigners and Cambodians from March 29, 2008 amid concerns over an explosion in the number of brokers and huge emigration of population to South Korea on the one hand and several cases of abuse causing a red flag on the other.

The government took such action against the foreign marriage following the release of the Geneva-based International Organization of Migration (IOM) report warning of the vulnerability of Cambodian brides, who have been flocking in South Korea over the past few years.

There are complaints among the brides after the marriage that they have returned from South Korea after realizing that the place where she dreams as a Shangri-la rather a hell. Perhaps the search for foreign brides has been driven by low birth rates of female and the growing difficulty South Korean men finding brides among the country's newly ambitious young females notwithstanding marriages between Cambodian women and South Korean men became fraught with difficulties, frequently due to huge cultural and linguistic diversities.

Whereas often the women have misguided of their expectations of what life may be like abroad by match making agencies and advertisements rather wrote a new story of tragic movie. The expectation of Khmer as in the Korean movies is that bride might be a rich and good husband who can support her as well as she could able to send money back home for her poor family.

Her expectations result into full of dashing hopes. There are several cases of deaths of Vietnamese wives also in South Korea in 2007 and early 2008 due to mistreatment by their husbands. Once the purchased brides receive Korean citizenship and the women who were divorced from their husbands have not means to return home and forced to work in factories or in brothels.

In another report cases of women placed in conditions of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labour by fake 'husbands' who sought their wives for their business of trafficking rings.

Red flag appears to be shifted towards geographically continuity and having already influence by the Korean wave, Manipur since after the banned of international matrimonial alliance in Cambodia. Manipur has already shown their willingness to migrate for their settlement to the foreign countries.

The case of huge Kuki-Hmar-Mizo group immigration to Middle East by converting Judaism since their costumes and rituals closely matched with one of ten lost tribes of the biblical Israelites as a striking example, Manipuris are ready to emigrate if chance is come up.

Having a common history between Cambodia and Manipur on fantasy of Korean movies and serial without any age bar, the experiences of foreign marriage in Cambodia have evidence of possibility being easily bludgeoned in Manipur.

Being located in the geostrategic area and similar looks, Manipur is already recognized as the only gateway to South Asia and rest of the world in order to overtake war against the geopolitics of resources especially in the field of entertainment. The succeeding step might be on international marriage as a means for the fisticuffs on the geopolitics of human resources.

The people of Manipur highly necessitate to aware the lessons learnt by Cambodian experiences and pre-emptive measures are indispensable otherwise Khmer history might be repeated in Manipur.

** This article was also published on The Imphal Free Press - 9th June, 2008 Edition)