Thorough Verification of Participant Documents, Including Resident Registration Copies, Nearly 3,300 single men and women flocked to a ‘group meeting’ arranged by the Seoul city government. It is unusually popular for a matchmaking event hosted by a local government. The fact that Seoul directly verified all documents that could be examined, such as resident registration copies, to confirm identities is cited as a key reason for its appeal.
Seoul City announced on the 14th that “as a result of the application for the large-scale meeting event ‘Excitement, in Han River’ to be held on the 23rd, 3,286 people applied for 100 spots (50 men and 50 women), resulting in an average competition ratio of about 33 to 1.”
Citizens participating in the ‘Rainbow Bridge Yacht Festival’ held at Sebitseom in Banpo Hangang Park, Seoul in 2022 are enjoying the night view of the Han River on a yacht. Photo by Woo Sang-jo
, The event features a balanced ratio of 51% male to 49% female applicants, which is notable. Most dating events organized by local governments tend to have fewer female applicants, resulting in an uneven gender ratio. According to Seoul City, there were 1,679 male applicants (33.58 to 1) and 1,607 female applicants (32.14 to 1). Age-wise, 26% were between 25-29, 45% were 30-34, and 29% were 35-39. Profession-wise, there were many applicants from female-dominated fields, such as elementary school teachers and nurses, as well as from male-dominated fields like IT, firefighting, and police.
, In this event, the Seoul city government directly reviews applicant documents. They require the submission of a resident registration copy (original), a certificate of employment, and a certificate of marital status to verify single status, as well as an inquiry into the applicant’s job (income) and any criminal record related to sexual offenses before selecting participants. A 30-something single female applicant said, “It’s hard to trust people these days, but I felt I could trust it as the city verifies the submitted documents and basic profiles.” Additionally, the Han River yacht tour and various activities, such as recreational games and 1:1 conversations, have garnered attention. The selection results will be individually notified via text message on the 15th.
Recently, a ‘marriage bus tour’, combining bus trips and matchmaking, has become popular in Japan, as reported by TBS in March. It generally targets men and women in their 20s to 50s, with many being day trips. Screenshot from Campfire website.
, The ‘Excitement, in Han River’ event will be held on November 23 at Sebitseom in Banpo Hangang Park from 3 PM to 9 PM, lasting six hours. At the end of the event, participants can submit a paper listing their top three preferred matches. The final couple matches will be individually notified by Seoul City to the participants the following day. Kim Sun-soon, head of the Women and Family Policy Office at Seoul City, said, “The flood of applications for this event underscores the difficulty single men and women face in meeting trustworthy partners,” adding, “We hope to see many couples emerge from this event.”