SOUTH KOREA — Local governments in South Korea organized dating events, offered marriage incentives, and designed matchmaking programs in 2025 as the country recorded a slight increase in births and fertility rate. The number of births rose to 254,500, up by 16,100 or 6.8 percent from 2024, while the total fertility rate increased from 0.75 to 0.80, marking a second consecutive annual rise after years of decline.
Hampyeong County introduced a marriage incentive offering up to 10 million won (approximately $6,600) to couples who meet through a government-sponsored event and later marry. In Seoul, a city-backed dating event held on the Han River drew more than 3,000 applicants competing for 100 available spots. Seongnam’s “SoloMon’s Choice” program, launched in 2023, has attracted thousands of participants and facilitated hundreds of matched couples.
These local initiatives reflect a broader approach that treats marriage as a matter of aligning supply and demand in a strained social environment. Marriage in South Korea remains a primary pathway to childbirth, as births outside of wedlock are rare compared with other OECD countries. However, marriage itself has become increasingly burdened by economic insecurity, social pressure, and fears of downward mobility.
High housing prices, unstable employment, long working hours, intense educational competition, and the high cost of raising children have made marriage feel like a major economic hurdle. In this context, South Korea’s matchmaking systems—both public and private—translate factors such as education, income, occupation, housing prospects, age, appearance, family background, and regional origin into metrics of desirability. Men are often evaluated based on income, job stability, and housing capacity, while women are frequently judged by age, appearance, expected caregiving roles, and assumptions about motherhood.
Despite the recent uptick in births, South Korea remains far below the 2.1 fertility rate needed for population replacement, and deaths continue to outnumber births. The OECD has noted that South Korea’s low fertility is tied to challenges in balancing work and family life, unequal expectations around caregiving, and inflexible workplace practices. Women face high opportunity costs when marriage and childbearing threaten career advancement, while men remain under pressure to serve as primary economic providers.