Traditional customs and more have undergone a great deal of change due to the rapid modernization of society.

Despite these changes, however, there are those who maintain that Korea, for all its high-rise buildings, is still one of the most Confucian nations in the world.

The traditional ways of the past and the long-cherished customs continue to influence Koreans' newly acquired modern ways.

In the past, several generations often lived together, and many children were desired for the future stability and security of the family.

It was not unusual for the number of people sharing one house to total a dozen people or more. In recent years, however, the move to urban areas and popularity of new apartment-type housing has meant that newly married couples tend to live on their own instead of sharing quarters with other family members.

This trend has given rise to an increasing number of nuclear families in Korea.

Traditionally, the eldest male of a family was regarded as the source of supreme authority.

All family members were expected to do what was ordered or desired by him. Strict instruction were to be obeyed without protest.

It would have been unthinkable for children or grandchildren to place themselves in opposition to the wishes of their elders.

Obedience to one's superiors was deemed natural; in addition, filial piety in particular was viewed as the most revered of all Confucian virtues.

The importance of the Confucian social order in Korea can be observed especially on New Year's Day when, after the usual memorial services for ancestors, family members bow to grandparents, parents, older brothers, relatives, and so on in accordance with age.

Young Korean girls may even seek out the village elders to pay their due respect by bowing to them, even though they are not related.

At meetings, social gatherings, or drinking parties, social order becomes an immediate question: who should greet whom first, who should sit where, who should sit down first, who should pour wine for whom first.

Among close friends, those born earlier are treated as elder brothers and sisters.

Among acquaintances, one is expected to use honorifics to those 10 years older than oneself. However, if the difference is less than 10 years, Korean people address one another as equals.

Under Confucianism, the proper relationship between Korean girls and men was also based on one of the five human relationships (o-ryun)-that of husband and wife.

This system does not aim to subordinate Korean women to men, but merely holds that both Korean women and men have certain duties to perform and a set of ethics to observe vis-a-vis the other.

In its practical application, this ideal, learned from an early age, affected not just Korean husband and wife, but virtually all relations between the Korean girls and men.

From early childhood, children played and grew up segregated by gender as illustrated in the adage: "Korean girls and boys at the age of seven should not be allowed to sit in the same room."

This was adhered to except in the case of brothers and sisters who followed another set of ethics governing Korean family relations.

The strict application of these rules resulted in severe restrictions on women, while relative freedom was allowed for men.

Korean Women's behavior was dictated by the law of the three obediences: obeisance to the father before marriage, to the husband upon marriage, and to the son after the husband's death.

Female submission to male authority was not due to the perception of innate Korean female weakness or inadequacy; rather, it had to do with the strict separation of social spheres in the organization of society.

The woman's role was "within," that is, within the home which was her domain to control.

The man's role was "outside," and his concern was limited to the affairs of the state and life beyond the confines of the home.

It was the woman's duty to care for the children, to help her husband with the farm work, to prepare family meals, to make the family's clothes, and to create an atmosphere of peace so as to better enable her husband to concentrate on the larger issues of society.

The Korean female role was firmly established within the confines of the home and Korean girls were expected to adhere strictly to that role.

Although strict observance of Confucian-inspired ideals is now a rarity, Korean women and men are still conscious of their positions as expressed not only in their behavior but in their speech as well.

Love and affection between man and woman is rarely expressed openly, not even between husband and wife.

That is because inter-racial marriages for Korean girls - who pride themselves in the unbroken 5,000-year-history of their homogeneous population - have drastically increased in recent years.

Last year alone, 6444 Korean girls tied the knot in the country with foreigners, according to latest data released by the National Statistical Office.

A total of 3,049,000 Korean marriages were registered in 2003, of which inter-racial marriages took up 8.4 percent.

This shows a sharp 61 percent increase over 2002, with the trend mainly, but not solely, accounted for by more Korean women seeking foreign men to marry.

But for 25-year-old Chang Eun-young, married life couldn't have been better if she'd married a Korean spouse.

Having met her American husband while studying abroad in Germany, she said it was love at first sight which led down the long and winding road toward wedlock against all the odds.

Chang says convincing her parents to agree to her marrying outside her race was a Himalayan obstacle that she had to overcome.

Their son Harunobu is what locals would generally refer to as a 'mut', a mixture from racially different parents who are now breaking away from Korea's homogeneous society.

Looking for love beyond national borders, 26-year-old Lee Kyung-hee said she wanted to marry a westerner. Lee questions why she needs to limit herself to one race when it comes to love.

"I like westerners such as Americans because, unlike the average Korean man, they are more gentle and expressive of their feelings," Lee said shyly. "If two people can mix their cultures well, they can be a fusion couple that has many benefits."

According to the NSO statistics, 8567 Korean women married foreign men last year.

Of them, American men were the top choice of husbands. Over 30 percent, or 2,913 Korean girls, took on American spouses, while 1,237 women married Canadians.

The third most popular race Korean women chose was Australian, with 1,199 tying the knot. Following in order are British, German, Swiss, Swedish, and Dutch male spouses.

Experts say it is obvious why American and European men are the top two choices for foreign husbands, because, most Korean girls who choose inter-racial marriages either want someone completely different from their own kind.

But the situation is very different for Korea's male population, which seems to prefer Asian foreign spouses.

NSO statistics also show that last year 19,214 Korean men were registered in inter-racial marriages. Of them, a whopping 69.6 percent, or 13,373, took on Chinese wives, while 1,403 men tied the knot with Vietnamese women and only 1,242 Korean men married Japanese women.

Filipino women were in fourth place followed by Thai, Uzbek, Mongolian and Russian.

Experts credit the trend to the increasing number of Korean men in rural farming regions who are taking on foreign wives, as the average male/female ratio in those areas has been declining drastically and, as a result, there aren't enough local women to marry.

Newlyweds Shin Eui-suk, 29, and Ngo Maylinh, 25, met three years ago, through an online matchmaking service. Shin, a third-generation farmer in Kimpo, Gyeonggi Province, was desperate to meet his soul mate as he was pressured by his family to marry, have children and have his offspring carry on the family name and inherit its land.

"It was the last resort for me to marry. Most Korean girls do not want to marry a farmer.

With its growing acceptance by Korean locals today, inter-racial marriage has come a long way in Korean society and it is expected to continue growing in the coming years, experts say.

But traditional attitudes of keeping a homogeneous race are still prevalent.

Even so, there is a growing number of Korean girls with independent minds and passion, who are going against all the odds to find their soul mate outside their own nationality.