Korean Dating

• Sogheting ( 소개팅) : Blind date. While in English the term hints that the party being introduced never met online, in Korean, Soghe ( 소개) means introduction and Ting ( 팅) is an abbrevation of the English word meeting. This is usually set up by a common friend that knows both of the parties. Coffee shops are usually the preferred location for thsese ( no wonder Korean coffee shops do so well! )
  
• Meeting ( 미팅) : this term refers to a group blind date. It might be anywhere from two girls, two guys up to 5 girls and 5 guys and up ( although personally I haven't attended a meeting that went beyond this number since it gets too crowded and complicated).  Coffee shops that are not too crowded are chosen for the meeting location ( avoid places like Starbucks! although in my times there weren't any Starbuckes haha).
  
• BungheTing ( 번개팅): Bunghe means lighting ( referring to its speed) and ting once again is an abbreviation of the word meeting. Although I never tried this, this term was created after the internet dating began taking shape in the late 90s. Parties who would be chatting might decide to meet on the fly so if a friend asks " where are you going?" the response would be " Bungheting Ga" or " I am going to a Bungheting".
• Matsun ( 맞선) : this is an 'official' date set by either a professional matchmaker or a parent ( usually the Mother) but it could be set by any trusted elderly family figure. This is strictly business so the location for these types of dates are set at expensive hotel restaurants and conversation revolves around checking out each others' so called specs ( specifications/ ala criteria). It is not totally uncommon for a guy to ask a girl ( if she works) in a Matsun how much she makes: this is to gauge whether he is making enough ( so as not be looked down upon). There are many other factors that are fairly intricate in this meeting but this is a brief overview.

 With the rise of the internet, there are various event sites coordinating dating events. A more word-of-mouth oriented online dating site with high percentage of Korean Ivy League grads( the so called SKY grads: S= Seoul National University, K= Korea University, Y= Yonsei University) and females ( 50%) focuses on the female psychology: every day around lunch time an avatar psychic God character delivers a potential male match to the female member with matching criteria.