Budgeting 80 Million Won Tax for Blind Dates? 'Seoulting' Canceled Amid Flood of Criticism Bots

SeoulTing Supporting Marriageable Age Youth Blind Dates
Reconsideration Amid Public Opinion That It Is Not a Fundamental Solution

Seoul City, as part of its low birthrate countermeasures, promoted 'Seoult-ing,' which seeks natural encounters among young single-person households, but decided to reconsider the project after a flood of criticism that it is not a fundamental solution.

On the 15th, Seoul City announced that it would reconsider Seoult-ing, which was intended to be promoted for unmarried young people of marriageable age to address the low birthrate issue.

The Seoult-ing program previously planned by Seoul City included ▲ Single people's taste show-off (convenience store cooking contest) ▲ Traditional market win-win gourmet tour ▲ Youth plogging ▲ Hiking classes, among others.

Seoul City allocated 80 million won for the 'Youth Meeting, Seoult-ing' project in the supplementary budget, but after criticism that it was a waste of tax money, it ultimately decided to reexamine the project.

Does just meeting solve the problem?... Voices of criticism continue against 'Seoult-ing'

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon [Photo by Yonhap News]

Some citizens pointed out that Seoult-ing is a showy project that does not address the fundamental causes of the low birthrate problem.

According to a survey by Incruit in March, the most frequently cited factor negatively affecting plans to have children was 'economic burden of raising children.'

In other words, to prepare effective low birthrate countermeasures, support for childcare expenses and expansion of childbirth encouragement policies should come first, and simply increasing opportunities to meet does not solve the problem.

On the 13th, Park Gang-san (Democratic Party of Korea, Vice Chair of the Education Committee), a city council member, criticized at the city council plenary session reviewing the supplementary budget, saying, "The policy that Seoul’s young people, who are worried about marriage, childbirth, and childcare today, expected from Mayor Oh Se-hoon would not be in the direction of Seoult-ing."

Along with this, safety concerns about the Seoult-ing project were also raised.

On the 13th, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said about Seoult-ing, "Unmarried women have concerns about whether men they date might have stalking tendencies or whether someone with extreme criminal tendencies might appear," and added, "(Seoult-ing) receives data to ensure that the person is at least not someone with extreme tendencies."

Mayor Oh explained what kind of data would be reviewed, saying, "We will establish institutional measures to prevent worst-case scenarios such as stalking, including employment certificates or marriage certificates."

However, citizens argued that "Just because someone is employed does not mean they do not have extreme criminal tendencies," and "How can people be judged based on such documents?" expressing that risks still remain.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.