If you are thirty-plus and a woman with a masters degree in South Korea, you may need the help of a matchmaker to find love -- and your worried mother may even end up doing the legwork for you.
As women in this rich Asian country have become better educated, with five times as many now getting advanced degrees as in 1995, they have also become more choosy and are less likely to settle for the role of meek spouse traditionally expected of Korean women.
"I heard if you are a female with master's degree, it is much harder to arrange a meeting than if you have a bachelors degree because of an unfavorable perception toward 'too smart women' here," said Lee, 24, a college senior in Seoul who wished to be known only by her last name.
The age at which Korean women are getting hitched has risen by an average 4.1 years over the past 20 years to 28.9 years, according to Statistics Korea, and that has created plenty of worried mothers getting things rolling for their daughters.
"My daughter is in her early 30's, an age considered late for marriage here", said a woman in her mid 50s who wished to be identified only by her surname Ahn and who took her daughter to one of the many match-making agencies in Seoul.
"I was worried that if she does not find her match this year, it will be much more difficult to marry in the coming years, so I went to the firm with her and made her join."
At DUO, a matchmaking firm, its 26,000 members can choose between five different membership programs with fees from 1.08 million won ($971) to 8.8 million won.
In a bid to attract clients, the site displays the average annual income of its male and female customers, as well as statistics on their professional standing.
"In a privately set up blind date, you cannot be entirely sure of how much of personal information given to you is accurate," said DUO spokesman Yon Jun.
Critics say the industry prioritizes income, status and materialism. Local wags have coined the phrase "employage" to sum up employment and marriage.
"If your father works in the financial industry or is a high-ranking administrator, you will find your match with similar backgrounds through a matchmaking firm, starting a perfect marriage on the back of parental support," said comedian Choi Hyo-jong, a presenter on a local satirical show called "the Wart's Kindergarten".
如果你是一个三十多岁的韩国女硕士，那么你可能需要媒人的帮助才能找到爱情，你那忧心忡忡的妈妈甚至可能亲自跑腿给你物色对象。
随着这个富裕的亚洲国家的女性教育程度的提高，她们对择偶也变得更挑剔，不甘于做温顺的传统韩国女人。如今韩国的高学历女性人数是1995年的五倍。
一位不愿透露名字的首尔大学生李小姐说：“我听说，如果你是一位女硕士，那么给你安排一次相亲会比女本科生难得多，因为在这里人们对‘太聪明的女人’没有什么好感。”李小姐今年24岁，正在读大四。
韩国统计局的数据显示，韩国女性现在的平均结婚年龄为28.9岁，在过去20年内增加了4.1岁。这使得许多母亲为嫁女儿操碎了心。
55岁左右的安女士曾带自己的女儿去找过首尔众多婚介机构中的一家。她说：“我女儿现在三十出头，就找对象来说在这里已经被认为是很晚了。”
“我担心如果她今年找不到对象，明后年就会更难嫁出去，所以我就和她一起去婚介所，让她加入成为会员。”
在婚介公司DUO，它的2.6万名会员可以选择价位从108万韩元（971美元）到880万韩元的五种不同的会员套餐。
为了吸引客户，该婚介网站会展示男女客户的平均年收入，以及职业身份方面的资料。
DUO的发言人永骏说：“在私人安排的相亲中，你无法完全确定给你的个人信息有多少是准确的。”
批评人士称，婚介行业把收入、地位和物质放在第一位。当地喜欢说笑的人还造出了雇佣和婚姻的合成词employage。
喜剧演员蔡孝钟（音译）说：“如果你的父亲在金融行业工作，或他是一个位高权重的管理者，你会通过婚介公司找到门当户对的对象，在父母的支持下走进完美的婚姻。”蔡孝钟是当地讽刺类节目“缺点幼儿园”的主持人。
Vocabulary:
legwork: 外出搜集情况的工作；跑腿活儿
get hitched: 结婚
wag: 爱说笑打趣的人，能言善辩的人
wart: 缺点
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