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By Kim Do-yeun
Online dating has taken the next leap in Korea as smartphone users have been introduced to an app that facilitates meeting potential partners.
As a more immediate platform for dating, it is increasingly being used as a tool for one-night-stands.
In an online forum for the app, posts from users include lessons on “how to score a home run,” ― an expression used to describe getting one’s partner to bed.
Writers of these posts outline how they proceeded to meet their partners in person after communicating through the app, and ultimately how they ended up in motels. Some male users disclosed the age and physical traits of the women, while others went further and posted photos ― albeit tactfully blurred ― of their partners as proof of their encounters.
The equation that starts with the dating app and ends in one-night-stands seems all too natural for those who come to the forum. And the “home run” achievers agree that it is easier than one would think.
One user wrote that messaging potential partners in nearby locations guaranteed a fast response rate, adding “not to fear failure," as the point was to take a “no strings attached” approach. "At least one will go for the bait,” he assured forum participants.
One 28-year-old man, who has scored four “home runs” out of the six women he met through the app in the past two months, recommended a more strategic approach. His fast-track to success included uploading a picture of a destroyed imported car (i.e. expensive) onto his profile and posting a comment explaining that the vehicle was taken to a repair shop post-accident. This flaunting of wealth drew eight interested women within three hours, the man claimed. They all began with empathetic messages regarding the car and proceeded to ask to meet.
He also advised making up a reasonably attractive occupation and age that may be looked at favorably by potential partners. Setting up the bait was easy, he said.
At the suggestion that his technique may be crossing the line to fraud, the man replied that it was all in the light spirit of disposable relationships. He asserted that it took the pressure-off of being introduced to someone by a third party and praised the app for its advantages.
However, the app has also been causing problems that cannot be taken lightly. In July, the Gwangju Police Department held a 26-year-old man for trying to force a partner he had met through the app to go to a motel after drinking with her.
Other known cases include a rape and robbery, and stalking.
The app developers have not shown any intention to address these problems, saying that they cannot regulate the private messages of their users.