35,000 on mass dates
By Kim Bo-eun
The left circle shows where male participants will gather and the right circle shows where female participants will gather at Yeouido Park on Dec. 24. They will meet in the middle to find a date and leave in the thick arrow direction when they have found a date. Some 35,000 singles will gather to find a date in designated spots in 13 cities across the nation on Christmas Eve with men clad in white and women in red. / Captured from Facebook
Singles bothered about spending a solitary Christmas could find a partner, or at least spend the holiday in the company of like-minded people at date hunting events to take place on Christmas Eve in cities across the nation.
The largest ever organized hunt for a date will involve around 35,000 participants who have signed up so far as of Wednesday.
Organized by event agency “Nimyeonsy,” which means “is in a relationship” in Korean, is supported by around 200 companies and 200 individual volunteers.
Singles will gather in designated spots in 13 cities on Dec. 24 with men clad in white and women in red. Participants are free to grab the hands of any person they wish to date, in the hope of living their futures together happily ever after.
Participants in Seoul are to gather at 3 p.m. in Yeouido Park, and gatherings will also take place in Busan, Incheon, Daejeon, Daegu and Gwangju.
The mass event started from a single status posted on Facebook by a college graduate in early November.
“Young people these days are so preoccupied with building their credentials to get employed, they do not have time to date or meet people,” Jang Chan-wook, co-head of the movement, told The Korea Times, Wednesday.
“People spend a lot of time online, instead of going out and meeting others, so we initially just proposed on Facebook that singles should meet up for Christmas,” said Jang.
Instant positive feedback prompted Jang and his partner Yu Tae-hyung to set up some basic guidelines and upload the official post which has been “liked” by some 340,000 users of Facebook so far.
According to Jang, Facebook was the ideal method and medium through which to promote the event.
The event has attracted the attention of some 400 companies, half of which have offered to give products as prizes to the participants. They include game companies as well as online shopping malls.
Other companies such as outdoor brand K2 and social dating company i-um, have given their single employees paid leave for Dec. 24, so that they can participate in the event.
However, concerns about safety have been raised about the large numbers of people gathering in confined areas. A Facebook user named Evan Jeong posted “Women especially should be cautious because sexual harassment can occur in crowded places. I initially planned to go but I changed my mind.”
Nimyeonsy is recruiting volunteers to be posted at the designated spots to be on stand-by in case accidents occur. Around 200 people have been recruited so far.
However, enthusiasm for the gathering is sky-high, with comments such as “I’m going to skip work to be there” and “I’m going out right now to get some white clothes,” appearing online.