South Korea will intensify background checks on locals wanting to tie the knot with foreign spouses through marriage brokers as a related revision is set to come into force this week, the women’s affairs ministry said Wednesday.

Under the revised law, Korean citizens who received 10 years in jail or a heavier sentence over the recent 10 years must provide their criminal records to their would-be spouses.

The scope of criminal records subject to report is currently limited to such offenses as sexual and domestic violation, child abuse and sex trafficking.

In addition, a medical checkup, an essential procedure for international marriage, must include an examination for mental problems.

These new rules, effective from Thursday, are aimed at improving mounting problems with international marriages, according to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

“International marriage, which has been on the rapid rise since 2003, is a factor behind the country‘s rapid growth of domestic violence, runaways and divorce as false personal information is provided and marriages are decided too quickly in many cases,” the ministry said in a release. “We hope these measures will help improve mutual trust at both ends of international marriage.”

South Korea has seen a sharp rise in the number of international marriages in recent years as more local men, especially those in the countryside, tied the knot with women from other Asian nations. According to Statistics Korea, international marriages numbered 33,300 in 2009, 34,235 in 2010 and 29,762 in 2011, compared with 4,710 in 1990.

The new law also bans brokers from introducing Korean men to foreign women under the age 18 or to more than two women simultaneously.

The present method of allowing one Korean man to pick a prospective bride out of a multiple number of foreign women standing in a line at matchmaking events has often been criticized as an act that is reminiscent of human trafficking. (Yonhap News)