How far will South Koreans go for education? It appears they will go as far as putting marriage and family stability on the line, judging by the numbers of fathers living alone in South Korea while their children - often accompanied by mothers - are sent abroad in search of a better education.
Exact numbers are difficult to obtain, but according to Seoul's Ministry of Education, about 28,000 students under the age of 19 moved overseas, with or without a parent, between March 2003 and last February - almost triple the number in 1998.
The phenomenon has become so widespread that the home-alone fathers have been dubbed girogi appa or wild-goose dads. The goose, which is said to have only one lifelong mate, is a symbol of fidelity and loyalty, featuring as a motif of good fortune at Korean weddings.
The dads need all the good fortune they can get. The practice of leaving a father at home in South Korea to earn money for expensive overseas schooling has been accompanied by marital break-up, infidelity, depression and even suicide.
One professor at a prestigious university whose two children, along with their mother have gone to New Zealand to study and live, admits the separation is an emotional strain. 'I don't eat regularly. I have lost a structure to my life, and often there is nothing else to do except work,' he says.
Wild-goose fathers describe how the initial elation over having more freedom and time gives way to loneliness and depression. The public is familiar with stories such as that of a wealthy 48-year-old bank executive who committed suicide after being divorced from his wife who had spent more than 10 years overseas with his children. Or the story of a 36-year-old father who killed himself after discovering his wife in Canada was having an affair.
