Jeong Ha-gi, 46, flew to Vietnam on a tour organized for South Korean bachelors. He was looking for a wife who would be tough enough to withstand the rigors of life on a rice farm. Trying to distinguish among all the women with the numbers pinned to their shirts, he decided the one with a bad complexion might be made of sturdy stuff. They were married three days later.

"A lot of the girls I know are getting married to foreigners. Men from Hong Kong, men from South Korea. Even if they have a Vietnamese boyfriend they like, they want to marry a foreigner to get away," said [Nguyen Thu Dong], who is from Can Tho, a town about 80 miles southwest of Ho Chi Minh City.

NEWLYWEDS: Jeong Ha-gi chose Nguyen Thu Dong to be his bride during a trip to Vietnam for bachelors. "We have a lot of issues between us," Jeong said, referring to their cultural differences.; PHOTOGRAPHER: Jinna Park Los Angeles Times; NEW FACES: Foreign wives such Yi Ok-ran, an ethnic Korean from China, and her daughter help boost rural populations.; PHOTOGRAPHER: Barbara Demick Los Angeles Times