Seongnam City’s First ‘Solomon’s Choice’ Event of the Year Results in 22 New Couples

France and Switzerland Media Highlight Seongnam’s ‘Solomon’s Choice’ Program
Exclusive Interview with Mayor Seong Sangjin on Innovative Youth Policy

Now in its third year, Seongnam City’s ‘Solomon’s Choice’ program has established itself as a leading youth policy addressing low birth rates, drawing significant attention from both domestic and international media.

Seong Sangjin, mayor of Seongnam, is giving a greeting at this year's first 'Solomon's Choice' event held on the 25th at Hello Audrey (Unjung-dong). Provided by Seongnam City

On May 26, Seongnam City announced that at this year’s first event (the 14th session) held on the 25th at Hello Audrey (Unjung-dong), 22 couples (44%) out of 50 pairs (a total of 100 participants) successfully matched.

Participants naturally formed connections through activities such as dating coaching, self-introduction sessions, one-on-one conversations, and shared meals.

This event attracted particular international attention as France’s public broadcaster France2 visited the venue in person to film and interview participants.

In addition, Switzerland’s leading daily newspaper NZZ (Neue Zurcher Zeitung) is preparing a report focusing on the background of the program, its success factors, and future plans to improve the birth rate, based on an exclusive interview with Seongnam Mayor Seong Sangjin on May 23.

From July of last year through the end of the year, a total of 13 events resulted in 288 couples matched, 5 couples married, 2 couples planning to marry, and several childbirth cases, demonstrating tangible outcomes.

Seongnam City encourages natural connections among participants by using a lottery system and an AI matching algorithm that takes into account participants’ personalities and interests for each session.

Participants indicate their interest on a ‘Some Matching’ form, and if there is a mutual match, they receive each other’s contact information via text message to continue the relationship.

The Solomon’s Choice event will be held three more times in the first half of the year (sessions 2 to 4). The schedule is as follows: the 2nd session on May 31 at Gamsung Taco Pangyo branch; the 3rd session on June 1 at Gamsung Taco Pangyo branch; and the 4th session on June 8 at Wirye Militopia Hotel. For the first half of the year, 3,036 people applied for 400 available spots (100 per session), resulting in a competition ratio of 8 to 1.