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might think, "Korea holds parties like that just to have fun," but from our perspective, foreigners just mingle with strangers over wine. We find that fascinating. Wow, those guys are just hanging out with strangers and drinking like crazy. be in decline. Dating right now is quite broken to be honest. I don't really quite know how to navigate late 20s guys. They've been a little evil. Many young people are either dating less or finding it harder to have meaningful relationships. Whil dating apps up the ways we use to meet each other, rates of marriage and cohabitation are on the decline across the world. Some countries are even
seeing a decline in sex itself. In the US, the only generation having less sex than young millennials were Americans born in the 1920s. Good. It just seems like men and women hate each other. I do n't know if everyone's just really scared to date. Yeah, I think so. In this on journey around in this episode we are in South Korea and I'm starting in Sou the capital city I want to ask people here how their love lives are going my experience of dating basically about three to four times. Not much after my graduation that college. Do you enjoy dating these days or is it hard?
Actually, I didn't have many chances to date because I had to study to achieve my goal. I think only I had one sort experience in life. I'm 28 years old. Yeah Three years ago, I had a girlfriend. But um yes, he's been trying hard. Yes, I'm trying hard. Ah, it's been about 80 days. I've been working without a single day off. On average, about 13 to 14 hours a day won't put the brakes on until I achieve my goal. No brakes. my life and job so that I can do my job without thinking worrying about so much and then I can maybe try to date again to be basically all the money the message is clear work comes first
for South Korea's young people this isn't just about career ambition there's a bigger picture a globally but in South Korea reached a cris point the country now has the world's lowest birth rate with the population projected to have by the end of the century we in Inchun which is a twoh drive west of soul it's one of those smart elevators that just automatically presses up and we're here to meeting who is an expert in gender relations, feminism and antifeminism. We want to get a sense of how changing gender expectations and roles are impacting dating culture in Korea. What is the Korean work culture? Ideal worker is defined by those people who prioritize work over other responsibilities including family and then the one who goes
to work from 9 to 5. So you have to be present in the workplace and then show that you're dedicated to work. I found out that overworking people do not want to get married because they are just simply emotionally exhausted. The numbers from Kim Study are Stark. Nearly 60% of unmarried people are single and more than half of those not even looking for a relationship. Love and relationship is going to be luxury goods. Those who have everything are going to have everything and then those who don't have are going to fall away from dating and marriage. And the gap gets wider. Yeah, that's how I see. It seems like this ironic bind, marriage and dating requires resources and economic capital. And in order to get that, you need to work hard. But it's
precisely this working hard that limits people from dating and getting married buuse they just don't have the time or the energy. Yeah, that's one irony. But at the same time, you know, the success is not guaranteed from working hard in Korean society anymore. So in the past if the man was graduated from soul national university which is the top university in Korea, he's okay. He's you know the number one husband material. But that's not the case anymore. Now the number one husband material is the man whose parents have assets. So it's not the individual merit or credential that is giving you this economic safety.
It's more of your background hard to achieve as an individual. Love sounds so hard. Yeah, it is getting harder I guess in Korean society. So, we've talked to different people who find it hard to date because life just gets in the way. You don't have enough time or money or you're working too hard. But I want to speak to people who think more critically about relationships in general. And that's why I've come to one fair which literally means antimarriage. This behone fair is part of the willfully unmarried movement. Korea's answer to traditional marriage fairs. A space to share resources on solo living from finances to finding community. It's a radical stance in a country where marriage and children remain deeply intertwined.
Only 2.5% of curryan babies are born outside of marriage versus over 40% across the developed world. The home fair is a woman only event which means Bruno our maleer can't go in and it's just going to be me with my camera. I'm just trying to be very careful not to shoot people's faces because everyone's very wary of doxing cyber bullying I think partly because the stigma against feminism is quite high in South Korea. There are so many people here. There's all signs of signs here saying that you shine when you're alone. It's okay to be alone.
Just as a cute woman, the cute lung opens. So I'm curious, so I'll come take a look When I said I wanted to live better here, for me, that was Bion. In the past, when someone said they lived alone, there was a without financial constraints or burdens, they have chosen to live by themselves Why do you think that perception is changing? I think it is because there is a program in Korea called 'I Live Alone', and through that, as well as YouTube, blogs, and many other media, the process of people living alone successfully building their single-person households without feeling lonely has been widely exposed Over a third of Korean households are now single
occupancy. The show leans into that shift using familiar faces to reframe living alone as a lifestyle choice rather than a consolation prize. The South Korean government is worried enough about people not coupling up that it started running its own dating events. We've come to one in South of Souled on the hit film K-pop Demon Hunters to find out how they work. many of the applicants are from IT companies, there are quite a few who come with an engineering vibe. So, in order to make men look a little nicer, we [show]
letter, what kind of personality type you are-introverted, observant, thinking and judging-maybe that's hi-fi, hi-fi. To moment you first meet, the first note is do-re-mi-fa. The image you show to the other person at the moment of first meeting determines your behavioral patterns after that time. The moment we first met, hello, Seon-nim. yes. Where do you live? Seongnam. So you live in Seongnam. If you go with this mode, you will go with this mode until the end of today. There are many introverted people in Korea. yes. So, it's not really a culture where you can naturally come and go and become friends just over a glass of wine difficult to approach others, and face-to- face communication has
weakened even more, especially these days following COVID-19. yes. As a result, there are n't many opportunities to meet people, and even if you do, you do n't know how to approach them. So, the demand for dating coaches has increased. We can't do that very well. yes. There are no such opportunities, and it is not easy to do so, which is why this kind of culture has developed in Korea. It feels like the true face of death, and it's fun, tense, and a bit unsettling. I also find myself wondering what to do if things don't work out. As I go about my work life, my daily routines tend to become simpler, so I am total of couples will have their wedding ceremony. So among them,
[snorting] the one who just gave birth to a baby, Ijephron, has now given birth to babies. Uh, we do not view it as something essential. Because nearly half of people are busy with their own lives, they Since we do not have a culture like Europe, where men and women live together and have children without holding a wedding ceremony, consider marriage to be an essential process for overcoming adversity. That is why 70s and 80s it was very popular to go on group honeymoons. So my mom and dad were part of a whole bus full of newly weds who went to JJ Island for a honeymoon. You might laugh at this, but I get it in a way.
It's not my thing, but there's comfort and safety in following a path that's laid out for you. I wouldn't go on a first date like this, but I can see why a lot of South Koreans are drawn to this. From New York to Manchester to Soul. Young people every are steing back from dating but while the geogray changes the patterns are strikingly similar economic pressure longer working hour the rise of an individualized culture amplified by social media want people to buy into you must buy into you different countries same forceshaping how an entire generation thinks about love and relationship question is people want con the we built leaves room for
