Seongnam’s ‘Solomon’s Choice’ Creates 70 Couples in First Half of Year... Matching Rate Reaches 46.7%

The Power of ‘K-Matchmaking’ With an 8-to-1 Competition Rate
23 Couples Married or Engaged in the Fourth Year of the Program
Solomon’s Choice Shows Visible Results as a Four-Year Policy Initiative

Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Shin Sangjin) announced on March 30 that a total of 70 couples were matched at the 22nd to 24th sessions of its "Solomon's Choice" event for singles in the first half of this year.

Mayor Shin Sangjin is seen conversing with participants at the 24th Solomon's Choice event of Seongnam City held on the 28th at Tap Public in Baekhyeon-dong, Bundang District. Provided by Seongnam City

By session: 23 couples were matched at the 22nd event (March 21, Gamseong Taco Pangyo branch), 27 couples at the 23rd event (March 22, Gamseong Taco Pangyo branch), and 20 couples at the 24th event (March 28, Tapublic in Baekhyeon-dong).

Each session had 50 couples participate, resulting in a matching rate of 46.7% (70 out of 150 couples).

Solomon's Choice is a local government marriage promotion program designed to provide unmarried young men and women with a natural space for communication and to foster a positive perception of marriage. The program is now in its fourth year.

The city limited eligibility to single male and female office workers aged 27 to 39 (born between 1986 and 1998). For this first half of the year (sessions 22–24), 2,405 people applied for 300 spots.

Participants were selected by lottery, and those who attended the events had to overcome an average competition rate of 8 to 1.

Attendees took part in various step-by-step activities to get to know each other, including ice-breaking sessions, small group exchanges, one-on-one rotating conversations, and couple games.

Before the end of each event, participants could write down up to three people they were interested in on a "Some Matching" form.

The city identified mutually interested couples and sent each other's contact information via text message.

The Solomon's Choice event, which began in July 2023, has so far resulted in 13 couples getting married, with 10 more couples set to wed soon.

The program has attracted attention from both domestic and international media, with 11 outlets—including The New York Times (U.S.), Reuters (U.K.), Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ, Switzerland), France2 (France), and The Guardian (U.K.)—covering the so-called "K-matchmaking" policy as major news stories.

On the 28th, the 24th Solomon's Choice event of Seongnam City was held at Tapublic in Baekhyeon-dong, Bundang-gu. Provided by Seongnam City

A Seongnam City official said, "As the program enters its fourth year, the number of couples who have married or are set to marry has reached 23, making the results more visible." The official added, "We will continue to host the Solomon's Choice event in the second half of the year to actively support healthy encounters and relationship building among young people."

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