Park Hee-eun, the CEO of EUM is having a meeting with her co-workers.
 Fur coats, gloves or a nice thick muffler can be effective tools to block the chill of winter. However, for lonely singles, getting a boyfriend can be much more practical and desirable solution.

 

 A social dating company called EUM is an online-based business project founded and organized by youngters who felt the similar “need” of fellow singles. EUM calls for a safer, a more enjoyable, and even perhaps a more sincere online socialization.

 University life is often idolized as a fountain of youthful and innocent love. When Park Hee-eun, who is the CEO of Eum entered Seoul National University in 2006, she found out that the situation was quite the opposite.

 “Most online dating services are sexual and unhealthy,” said Park. Park figured out that there is a demand for social dating, but there aren’t any proper social dating services that provide a healthy opportunity to date.

 “I wanted to set a new model of a dating company,” said Park.


 In May 2010, Park founded the social dating company named EUM. EUM, which targets mostly the young clients in their 20s, provides a differentiated dating service by introducing the concept of a fictional Gold-like character named the EUM Shin, meaning the god of match making.

 Only after joining the site and passing a strict identification process, will the EUM Shin introduce one partner a day for two consecutive weeks. All candidates must fill in answers for a thorough set of questions.

 “The identi-fication process is very strict so as to block any members who have goals other than having a sincere meeting,” said Park.

 Mem-bers of EUM are classified into categories according to the degree of attractiveness. This is called the “attractiveness index.”

 “The level of attractiveness based only on how well and sincerely you have filled in the answers for your profile,” said Park. “We do not accept members looking at which school they go to or what kind of social status they have. Attitude is most important.”

 Once introduced to a partner, the candidate may simply click “ok” or “pass” and wait for the other person’s reply. After a mutual confirmation, both persons may take a look one other’s complete profile. If a candidate selects “pass,” any information on either side will disappear and never come into sight again.

 EUM has created a creative business model that is more favorable for females. One of the major goals set by the company was to attract female clients by providing them services intended to protect them.

 In conventional dating companies, members can search out random partners’ personal information like age or academic background. So most women who didn’t want their acquaintances finding out their joined such clubs hesitated to member the company. However, EUM limits access to personal information and provides only a selected partner’s information for 24 hours. Personal contact numbers are not revealed unless both parties click “ok” and wish to meet each other.

 “We set ways to restrict the publication of personal information, and have succeeded in giving the image that the private information is safe in our company. That’s how we are maintaining a balanced sex ratio, unlike conventional dating companies,” said Park.

 EUM’s strict standard in accepting members is another character of the company. Joining the site is free of charge, but one must go through quite a complex process. Members are asked to characterize their appearance, character and so forth with five key words such as, “Silky smooth skin” or “Bubbly and funny character.”

 “We value members’ devotion and willingness to pay respect to other people. We think that is a credibility and respect to the member’s future partner. That’s why we ask members to answer such questions even if it seems a little demanding for new members,” said Park.

 The site’s cute and tasteful icons and design are also contributing to the good and youthful image of the site.

 “Some conventional dating sites had a rather scary design, showing some sexual images. Our site differentiates ourselves by showing cute icons and giving people a fresh image,” said Park.

 EUM is preparing for its official launching on Nov. 15.

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