A Korean woman
Here is the quick list of the top five dating sites and apps in South Korea. I’ll go into more detail in my reviews later in this article.
I’m a big fan of South Korea and always have been. I have members of my family who are of Korean-descent, and, when I was a child, I used to eat Korean specialties such as kimchi and bulgogi. Korean women can be quite attractive too.
Your best bet if you are looking to have success is to book a ticket to Seoul and find a hotel or apartment somewhere in the center part of the city. From there, you can then begin to send messages on the sites I mention below and line up dates.
If you are determined to get a Korean sweetheart, you definitely can succeed. You will have to work hard and prepare for the inevitable rejections, but that is a small price to pay for having a hot Korean woman on your arm.
Dating in South Korea
Without further ado, here are my detailed reviews of the top dating sites and apps in South Korea.
KoreanCupid is the best online dating site in Korea. If I only had money to spend on one site, this is the site that I would sign up for.
Korean Cupid
KoreanCupid is run by one of my most favorite online dating companies, Cupid Media. Cupid Media owns sites that I’ve used in the past like LatinAmericanCupid and Afrointroductions, when I was living in Brazil and South Africa, respectively.
The site was started in 2004 to help singles worldwide connect and match with South Koreans. KoreanCupid is something of an anomaly when it comes to dating sites, because there are actually more women on the site than men.
If you’re looking for Korean women, this will be a valuable resource for you as the vast majority of its members are actually from South Korea. Look out for obviously fake profiles using celebrity photos for their profiles though.
Sign up Process
Life is busy these days, and KoreanCupid makes signing-up a breeze. Start by entering your name, gender, email and a password or syncing your Facebook account. Finish by describing yourself and your life, and what your ideal match would be like.
Your profile is not actually complete at this point, but it’s up to you whether or not you want to finish it now, or start searching profiles right away. If you elect to move forward with your profile unfinished, get ready to be occasionally asked to complete a bit more of your profile before continuing.
How to Locate Potential Matches
You have two options for searches: browsing matches and performing your own detailed search, narrowed down by criteria such as location, education, body type, ethnicity, and much more. Browsing is helpfully customizable, with different options for viewing profiles and sorting the search results.
How to Communicate with Other Members
As a non-paying member, your basic communication options are restricted to visiting profiles, “showing interest” in them, adding them to your Favorites, and sending messages that can’t be read until one of you decides to upgrade to a Gold or Platinum plan. Though upgrading may feel like a forced decision, the perks are adequately rewarding: IM, audio, and even video chat.
Unique Site Features
Three unique features have served me well on KoreanCupid:
- Video messages – Whether it’s chatting with someone live, sending video messages to potential matches, or posting a video welcome-message on your profile, KoreanCupid puts video to better use than most any other dating site out there.
- Anti-spam protection – Profile ID verification and vigilant spam-profile removals ensure that for whatever profile you see, the person on the other end will be who they say they are.
- Message translator – How does it get any better than this? Type out your message as normal, select your target language, click and button, and voila! Just like that, you are bilingual, or at least, close enough.
What is Included in Each Membership Level
- Standard – Craft customized searches, browse recommended matches, send interest, communicate with premium members
- Gold – All of the above, plus: Unlimited messaging and communication with other profiles (text, audio, video, Instant Messaging), ad-free browsing, invisible browsing
- Platinum – All of the above, plus: Better search rank for your profile, double the profile space, access to advanced matching algorithms, message translation, VIP profile highlighting, extra search features
Asian Dating
AsianDating is part of the Cupid Media network and has over 1 million members. Like the rest of the sites in the Cupid Media network, AsianDating has a user-friendly interface and design.
Although sign-up is free, the free membership is limiting; however, the site does provide excellent features to its premium members.
My only real complaint with the site was the amount of spam messages I received shortly after signing up. Luckily, after weeding these members out, you are left with real women who genuinely want to make a connection.
Overall, AsianDating is an excellent site. If you are Korean or are simply looking to meet a Korean single, then check out AsianDating.
Sign up Process
Signing up for AsianDating is fast, easy, and convenient. You can use your Facebook account to initially join or sign up by typing in your personal credentials on the website. The last step in the sign-up process is to write a little about yourself, specifying the traits you want in an ideal match.
Once that is done, sign-up is complete. Although your overall profile is not technically finished, you can leave it as-is for now and begin browsing.
How to Locate Potential Matches
The two methods generally used to find potential mates and ’match-hunt’ are browsing and searching. Browsing offers a mode where you can briefly peruse through matches or access full profiles if desired.
The search feature is more extensive and allows you to craft a search according to a specific criteria. This can be age, location, education, body type, ethnicity, lifestyle choices, marital status, religion, and even astrological sign. Naturally, you can save these custom searches for future use.
How to Communicate with Other Members
If you’re serious about connecting with other members and forming romantic connections with them in real life, I strongly recommend that you upgrade to a Gold or Platinum membership.
Members who are not Gold or Platinum are limited to the few options offered by basic messaging. You are only able to visit profiles, “show interest”, add profiles to your list of Favorites, and send messages that are otherwise private and can only be read if you are a premium member.
Upon upgrading, all messages can be accessed, and communications are freely open to both you and your potential match. Media communications such as audio, video, and IM chat options are readily available as well.
Unique Site Features
What sets AsianDating apart from other matchmaking and online dating sites is its unique message translation feature. With this feature, you can translate your messages into your preferred language with just one click. The language barrier that might otherwise pose a problem is completely broken down with this convenient tool.
What is Included in Each Membership Level
- Standard – Sign up, fill out profile, upload photos, customize searches, send interest to other profiles, communicate Gold/Platinum members
- Gold – All of the above, plus: Unlimited messaging and communication with other profiles (text, audio, video, Instant Messaging), ad-free browsing, invisible browsing
- Platinum – All of the above, plus: Rank above other members in searches, doubled profile space, VIP profile highlighting, platinum-exclusive search features, advanced matching algorithms, message translation
Bumble
As another option, I recommend you sign up for Bumble. I did a full review of Bumble here.
Tinder
Tinder is a geosocial online dating application that enables users to swipe anonymously on other profiles within a certain radius to secure matches. Since it’s launching in 2012, Tinder has become one of the most popular dating apps worldwide.
Sign up Process
The sign-up process to register for Tinder is relatively straightforward, and there are three main options: Facebook, Google, or your phone number. When it comes to creating your profile, plan on sticking to five hundred characters or less and try to say something witty or funny. Be up front about what you’re looking for. Include your height (since some men and women can be very picky) and a number of photos. All in all, the profiles for Tinder are basic, but they work.
How to Locate Potential Matches
Locating potential matches on Tinder is simple: you’ll be shown the profile photo of a potential match with the opportunity to view their full profile, and then you either swipe left or right.
If the person you swiped right on swipes right on your profile as well, you’ll make a match with the ability to communicate with one another. You’re limited to fifty to one hundred right swipes a day, unless you upgrade to a paid membership.
You can narrow down the potential matches shown to you by age and geographical location, but your options for doing so beyond that are limited. There are no personality quizzes (like many other dating sites have, for instance) to further narrow your options.
How to Communicate with Other Members
You’re allowed to exchange messages with other users only after you’ve made a match, meaning both of you have swiped right on each other’s profiles. You can then text message one another directly through Tinder’s messaging system, or you have the option to video call or voice chat one another as well.
Unique App Features
Tinder offers many general and advanced features. Examples of Tinder’s basic app features include the location-based social search, the ability to set dating preferences for potential matches, location-based suggestions, and the in-app messenger.
However, the application also has recently added a number of advanced features that help improve its overall functionality. These include the passport feature (where you can search by city on a map to begin liking and matching) and the ability to access the app offline without an Internet connection. The latter feature alone has greatly helped to increase Tinder’s engagement.
What is Included in Each Membership Level
Besides the basic version of Tinder, you can upgrade to two other membership levels: Tinder Plus and Tinder Gold.
Tinder Plus offers you unlimited likes per day, rewinding, five super likes, one boost, passport, and no advertisements.
Tinder Gold offers all of the Tinder Plus options, in addition to the top pick features (where Tinder will match you with other profiles who it believes you will be most compatible with) and being able to see who has swiped right on your own profile (so you can decide whether or not to match with them).
NoonDate
NoonDate is a Korean dating app. Its gimmick is described in the name, where the app provides new dates every afternoon. Despite being intended for those living in South Korea, it also has an English option, meaning that tourists can also try the app.
Sign up Process
NoonDate uses a standard sign-in, meaning you only have to enter your login information and username and fill out some basic information in your profile to understand your ideal match better. You will also be asked to describe what you want to see in a user.
We should mention that NoonDate does have a verification system that can take 24 hours. While this can be a hassle, it keeps fake accounts and scams away from the app.
How to Locate Potential Matches
Every noon, the app gives you two potential matches. You can choose to like them or skip them. If both of you want each other, then it is a match! This app takes an interesting approach, using quality over quantity. With that said, some users might not like having to wait 24 hours if their matches aren’t great.
How to Communicate with Other Members
Once you’ve matched with someone, you can speak to them through a traditional chatroom. Having a chat with users is straightforward. Due to the lack of matches, you can chat with the person for a while without worry. But with any dating app, you want to go on a date as soon as possible.
Unique Site Features
- It’s an app for Koreans, with an English option available as well
- It presents two dates in the afternoon, meaning that you have something new every day
- Advanced algorithms mean that you get the ideal match for your needs
What is Included in Each Membership Level
NoonDate uses a “candy” currency, which means you have limited likes, profile views, and messages. When you purchase a premium membership, you gain the ability to view profiles, likes, or messages without having to pay microtransactions for everything.
Personally, many users do not like this system and instead go for the paid version. Like any app, you won’t go too far if you do not have the paid version. There are exceptions, of course, but that doesn’t apply to most users.
Further Reading
Worldwide Online Dating Site Reviews: Be sure to check out my country-by-country reviews of the best online dating sites in the world.
Worldwide Moving Guide: Everything you need to know in order to plan your move to 65+ countries around the world.
Worldwide Jobs Guide: If you are interested in working in this country, be sure to check out my posts on how to find jobs in this country and other countries around the world.
Worldwide Apartments Guide: If you are interested in renting an apartment in another country, take a look at my articles on how to find an apartment in various countries around the world.
About Addison Sears-Collins
Hey! I'm Addison Sears-Collins, the founder of Visa Hunter. You can learn more about me here. Connect with me by liking my fan page on Facebook, connecting with me on Twitter, or check out my website Automatic Addison where I build robots and embedded systems.
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