"Catch of the day" for Korea's hungry singles with popular app

Advertisement
By Reuters | Updated: 23 April 2013 17:03 IST
South Koreans, who lunch religiously between midday and 1 p.m., can now get an extra treat through a smartphone app that promises to help singles find their one true love.

In a country with the longest working hours among rich industrialised nations, and where 8 million of its 50 million people are thought to be single, the i-um app, which means "to connect", offers detailed profiles and photographs to help match up busy singles.

Subscribers register and submit photographs and personal information.

Then at exactly 12:30 p.m. each day they receive a message through a stylised "lunchbox" showing the match of the day - and if both parties click "okay", they receive the other's name and phone number.

Advertisement

"At 12:30 p.m., the hour and the minute hand make a straight line. That means that both the man and the woman we connect can become one," said Park Hee-eun, who founded the company that developed the app in 2011.

Advertisement

"We (also) chose 12:30 p.m. because it is when people are most relaxed so they can just open the lunch box we deliver in a laid-back manner."

The app now has 800,000 subscribers and Park says that so far, 56 people have successfully found mates.

Advertisement

"App dating was my last-ditch effort, (I was) grabbing at straws," said Lee Ji-sun, a 33-year-old businesswoman who last month married the man she met through the app.

© Thomson Reuters 2013

 

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: apps, i um app
Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Deal Revealed Ahead of Amazon GIF Sale
  2. Xiaomi Announces Offers on These Products Ahead of Amazon, Flipkart Sales
  3. iQOO 15 Design Leak Reveals Colour-Changing Panel: See Benchmark Scores
  4. Amazon Sale 2025: Check Top Deals on These iQOO Smartphones
  5. Borderlands 4 Faces Performance Issues on PS5 Pro, Gearbox Confirms Patch
  6. Nothing Ear 3 With 'Super Mic' Feature, Up to 45dB ANC Launched: See Price
  7. Best Flagship Headphones Deals During the Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale
  8. Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 Glasses Are Here With a Massive Camera Upgrade
  9. These Companies Fired Over 10K Employees Between July and September 2025
  1. IMAP Space Weather Mission to Lift Off Soon, NASA Confirms Broadcast Plans
  2. Microsoft's Xbox Full-Screen Experience Leaks on Other Windows Handhelds Ahead of ROG Xbox Ally Debut
  3. Cellecor Comet CBS-05 Pro Bluetooth Speaker Launched in India: Price, Features
  4. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Galaxy S24 FE, Galaxy A55 5G and More to Go on Sale With Discounts During Festive Season
  5. Coinbase Urges US DOJ Action as SEC Mulls Dropping Lawsuit Against Crypto Exchange
  6. Vivo V60 Lite 4G Design, Specifications Leaked; Tipped to Launch With Snapdragon 685 SoC, 6,500mAh Battery
  7. Nothing Ear 3 Launched With Super Mic Feature, Up to 45dB Active Noise Cancellation: Price, Features
  8. Nvidia Bets Big on Intel With $5 Billion Stake and Chip Partnership
  9. Samsung Project Moohan XR Headset Launch Reportedly Postponed to October
  10. Samsung Galaxy S25 Series' Android-16-Based One UI 8 Update Rollout Expands to India
Gadgets 360 is available in
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2025. All rights reserved.