KOREA - The number of international marriages has continuously been growing in Korea to the stage where spotting international couples has now become quite common. Yet still, Korean-Japanese couples are considered quite extraordinary by some due to the somewhat complicated relationship the two countries share.

Byun Hye-ok, 28, a well-known beauty blogger, opposes the stereotype, saying that nationality does not matter much in love or marriage.

She married her Japanese husband Yuichi (Byun did not identify his last name due to his request), a 32-year-old engineer, in 2007 and has been residing with her in-laws in Aomori Prefecture, Japan.

“I never knew I would marry a foreign national before I met my husband. I just fell in love with someone who happened to be Japanese. I don’t think love works like you can or cannot fall for someone just because he/she is a Japanese. There’s really no need to have a stereotype or fantasy about international marriages,” she told The Korea Herald in an e-mail interview.

Byun described her marrying Yuichi as “destiny.”

The two first met in Australia in 2001 when both of them came to the country to learn English. Byun said she found Yuichi at a language school there and fell in love with him at first sight, not even knowing his name or nationality.

Although her English was not good enough at the time, Byun approached Yuichi first, by giving him a hand-written postcard on his birthday. Thanks to the opportunity, the two became closer and later started dating, which led to their marriage six years later.

Byun said she was drawn to her husband because she saw a lot of charms in him.

“He is always modest, honest and responsible, and never pretends to be someone else. He also has a very good sense of humor that makes me laugh a lot, although I may still be blinded by love,” she said.

Fortunately, contrary to what some people may presume, Byun and Yuichi’s marriage was carried out smoothly.

They did not encounter any opposition from their families about their marriage ― Byun said her family was not at all uncomfortable about Yuichi being Japanese, and neither was his for her being Korean.

“My family and friends seem to have acknowledged Yuichi as my boyfriend, not imbuing too much significance to his nationality. It’s probably because we had been together for seven years,” she said, adding that even before marriage they often mingled with each others’ families.

Living in Japan has become very pleasant, according to Byun.

“People of Aomori Prefecture, which has a rather small Korean population compared to Tokyo and Osaka, have a favorable image of Korea thanks to television drama ‘Winter Sonata’ which was a sensation here,” she said.

Byun teaches a Korean class twice a week to locals. She also has taught Korean cooking there in the past.

“My students love Korea and Korean so much that they regularly travel to Korea and have been to more places there than I have. It makes me very proud to be a Korean,” she said.

However, moving to an unfamiliar environment was not easy at first, Byun said. It took a while for her to adapt to her new life in Japan, overcoming loneliness she first had to go through the language barrier and lack of friends.

Her in-laws and husband, who cared for her dearly, were a great help.

“My parents-in-law especially have been very caring and nice to me because I came here all by myself just to be with my husband,” she said.

“Yuichi also hangs out with me on holidays, going on drives and picnics, and playing games like Nintendo Wii and Playstation at home.”

Differences regarding food or culture have not been much of a problem for her when it came to living with her in-laws, according to Byun, since they all love Korean food.

“I use a lot of garlic and hot pepper when I cook, just like I used to do in Korea. My husband also loves garlic so much that he eats raw garlic with samgeobsal (traditional Korean pork barbeque),” she said.

Byun also learned the Japanese language, while finding her own hobbies.

She started studying the Japanese language on her own as soon as she started living in Japan. Her Japanese now has vastly improved to the point where she can communicate with the family in the language. Her mother-in-law, meanwhile, is learning Korean these days, she said.

Byun also developed beauty blogging as her new hobby during the daytime when her husband was at work.

It began when she found an online cosmetics café on a Korean portal website. Feeling relatable to other young female members there, Byun posted up cosmetics reviews, make-up how-to-dos and her personal stories there and at her personal blog, “Hello, Lady in Japan,” simultaneously.

Her witty and elaborate postings became widely known among beauty-savvy young Korean women and thus made her a “power blogger.”

“I did not expect my blog to become that popular since I first started blogging just to interact with people. But I guess people got interested in it because the products that I introduce there are often unavailable in Korea,” she said.

Thanks to the wild response she received, Byun even published a make-up guidebook called “My Wanabe Make-up Book” in 2009. The book became so popular that it was also later published in China.

By Koh Young-aah ([email protected])