Korea's widening housing price gap is now reshaping even the matchmaking market. After a string of marriage information companies bearing the names of famous apartment complexes, a dating app that requires proof of apartment residency to join has emerged, making "which apartment you live in" a new condition for meeting people.
According to industry sources Wednesday, "APTING," a dating app exclusively for people in their 20s and 30s that requires verification of apartment residency to join, has recently drawn attention online. The app, whose name combines "apartment" and "dating," is open only to people in their 20s and 30s currently living in apartments.
With user consent, the operator electronically checks resident registration records, then compares the address on the record with apartment address data to confirm residency. The company says this process is simpler than submitting document photos directly and reduces concerns about forgery.
The app does not distinguish between homeownership, jeonse (a Korean lease system requiring a large lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent), and monthly rent. Even those living with parents can join as long as they actually reside in an apartment. However, residents of villas or officetels are excluded from eligibility. Upon joining, a user's photo, age, and residential area information are disclosed to other users, and those who wish can additionally reveal their income level and workplace information by verifying their health insurance payment records.
The app also features a function that lets residents of the same complex exchange updates, and a function that recommends apartment residents in a selected area is also in preparation. According to the operator, Connect Seoul, cumulative sign-up applications have exceeded 1,000 since launch, and the app is expanding its user base centered on Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon, as well as Daegu and Busan.
The trend of apartments becoming a condition for meeting people is spreading beyond apps to marriage information companies. Wonkyeolhoe, a small gathering formed by residents of Raemian One Bailey in Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, has officially launched as a marriage information company called "One Bailey Nobility." Initially, only One Bailey residents could join, drawing criticism as a "league of their own," but it later widened its membership to include those wishing to reside in the Seocho, Gangnam, and Banpo areas.
A marriage information company named after an apartment also opened in a commercial building at the Helio City complex in Songpa-gu, gathering 200 members in three months. Two-thirds of them are Helio City residents, while the rest are known to be residents of nearby complexes such as Olympic Park Foreon.
