http://www.theage.com.au/world/big-love ... 2r8la.html
Anywhere else, Park's dating woes might have been strictly personal. But in South Korea, fretful about plummeting birthrates but still tied to conservative ideas about matchmaking, solving the difficulties of the lovelorn has become something of a national priority. In perhaps the surest sign of that anxiety, the event he attended was one of dozens of dating parties nationwide sponsored by an unlikely matchmaker, the government.
Because a gov't policy isn't a success until it suc(k)s so bad, it has to be reversed with a subsidy.Since then, sponsorship of the parties has shifted mainly to ministry affiliates and local governments, which can win financial rewards for activities that promote marriage and childbirth. The municipal government that threw the party Park attended has been named a role model by Seoul. One government-financed agency, the Planned Population Federation of Korea, claims a different kind of victory: By hosting parties, it is working to undo its past success when it encouraged vasectomies as a booming South Korea feared being held back by population growth.
The slaves aren't making replacement slaves, fast enough!Corporations, fearing critical shortages of workers in an ageing society, have begun ending informal bans against office romances, with some now paying for dating services for their workers.
A laundry list of must-haves? Where have I read about that, before?"Korean women are too picky with all sorts of criteria, including which college the guy goes to, and whether or not he has a car," said Yu Tae-hyeong, who set up the flash mob. Men, he said, are more concerned with women's looks.
Keep in mind, no man in South Korea has to deal with American divorce laws, blue knights, and kangaroo courts, etc., and yet fewer of them are "manning-up", too.
Maybe the men are not the problem?
