Hwang Yoon-hee, a 24-year-old in her final semester at a university, had a definite plan for her future: graduate school, followed by a career working with an international organization. But her determination wavered a bit when she got a call from "Madame Tu."
"She offered me a man of wealth to meet with," Hwang said. "Such chances come very rarely."
As South Koreans try to strike a balance between traditional arranged marriages and the newer trend of marrying for love, the country has seen rising numbers of Madame Tus -- the slang for female entrepreneurs in the lucrative matchmaking field.
Matchmaking in South Korea has grown into a 50 billion won (US$49.3 million) business, a 20 percent growth since the late 1990s. The number of small and large private agencies -- including Madame Tus -- has increased to more than 1,000.
The industry is a mix of tradition and modern values. It allows young people to avoid having parents choose a mate, but still recognizes the importance of family background, social status and a mate's earning power. And it takes into account good looks and compatibility -- and the hope that love will blossom.
With the help of Madame Tus and matchmaking firms, many find their partners with less hassle.
Jo Hyung-joon, who works at a computer consulting company, is now selecting a company to find his ideal wife.
"My colleagues suggested I contact a company and meet girls from there," said Jo, 26. "I have such limited time to see even my friends ... and knowing that I'm slightly picky, I think matchmaking counselors will be a great help."
In June, Kim Young-hwan and Moon Jae-in married after meeting the previous November through DUO, the largest South Korean matchmaking company with 20,000 men and women registered as "members."
The company said their vows marked the 10,000th marriage arranged by DUO.
Kim, 30, and his 29-year-old bride praised marriage consultant Song Young-lae for encouraging them to keep looking for the right person.
"We thank Song from the bottom of our hearts for cheering us up whenever we wanted to give up," the couple, both company workers, said in an interview posted on the DUO Web site.
DUO, citing privacy concerns, refused to provide contacts for the couple.
Not everyone, however, can use these matchmaking services to find their special someone.
Kim Joo-kwan, who has a disabled leg, filed a suit a year ago against the two biggest matchmaking companies, DUO and Sunoo, for refusing to take him as a client. Kim, set to begin working as a lawyer in February, says he was outraged to see discrimination in the companies' membership qualifications.
"I called them up and asked whether I could be accepted, but they refused, citing their standards," he said.
"This is against the basic human right of equality and against our law," he said.
In August, South Korea's National Human Rights Commission urged the matchmaking firms to revise membership qualifications.
Most South Korean matchmaking companies do not accept the disabled, bald men, women considered unattractive and people without a university degree.
"These restrictions should not be interpreted as discrimination," said Lee Min-hee, a spokeswoman for DUO. "Even if we accept these people, they are wasting their money ... for others would avoid them."
"It is commonly known that these companies grade their applicants with numbers," adds Lee Yun-suk, a professor of urban sociology at the University of Seoul. Women get more points for looks, while for men it's their job.
Being a business school graduate or lawyer earns special treatment by the agencies, but such people can also be asked to pay twice as much as ordinary clients.
At DUO, for example, "Nobles" class membership for a year costs about 1,590,000 won (US$1,600) for men and 2,150,000 won (US$2,100) for women.
Women pay more because having a successful husband is considered an important factor for one's social standing, just as having a good job is for men.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a