♪ these single men and women have come here in search of a lifetime partner. the match making vent was

organized by a buddhist monk with support from the local authorities. the participants are all in their 30s and early 40s. a growing number of south koreans who want to get married are having trouble finding a partner. the average age for man to marry is 32, the highest figure in all of asia. many men say that once they reach their late 30s, finding a partner becomes increasingly difficult. they say they've been too busy studying or securing a better job and have had no time to

pursue a relationship. many university graduates are unable to find immediate employment and those who do spend years at improvering their skills in the hope of landing a better position. some are only able to find part-time work and it seems the economy is to blame. 30sarriage i sply not an and option. the older these men get, the more difficult it is finding a home grown spouse. many are turning their attention to women who have defected from north korea. many o these women have appeared on television and men are drawn to their honest and unassuming personalities. the phenomenon has spawned dating agencies about introducing south korean men to

north korean women. in this epode of "asia insit" wollo men in their quest. a report on the evolving schemes of match making in south korre occhon is a small town in central south korea. praying at the local temple is thought to bring good concern. every year some 5,000 men and woman come here to pray hoping to find a lifetime partner. praying is good, but the monk who runs the temple offers a more practical approach.

he organizes match maiking events strictly for people wanting to get married. these events frhave so far produced 1500 couples. participants begin by registering at a reception area on the temple grounds. 44-year-old oh woo jeong heard about the event from a friend. he lives in neighboring city. up until his mid-30s he had to change jobs several times. now that he's finally found stability as a regional public official he's ready to get married. he thrfills out a personal prof form with details about his height, weight, occupation, annual income, family background and assets.

then he describes to the monk's assistant his ideal woman and other conditions he might have. from dozens of files the assistant then recommend of women whom she feels might be good matches. the temple keeps data on more than 15,000 people. if he find a profile of a woman he likes and if the woman

agrees, the assistant will arrange a meeting. hye chul runs the temple. around ten years ago he started helping warshipers find partners. now days he also helps those from outside his flock. in south korea the number of single men and women is on the rise. the issue is of a particular concern among men where the

average age for the first marriage is 32, the highest figure in asia. according to government statistics in 1995, only 1 in 20 men in their late 30s remain single, but that figure has risen to 1 in 5 in just ten years. the increase in unmarried people is contributing to the falling birthrate. a topic frequently discussed in the media as a serious social problem. world bank statistics show that in 2012 the south korean fertility rate was 1.3 children. it was the second lowest in the world after mical. the following years it fell even further. crisis.ment report reveals it warns the country will suffer

severe economic and social consequences if the solutions to the imbalance in the age pyramid aren't found. in 2006, the government began tackling the issue and over the next four years spent the equivalent of $20 billion on a campaign to encourage people to have children. strategies are in the works to eliminate kindergarten fees and introduce larger child rearing subsidies yet the birthrate keeps dropping. on this day at the temple a tour has been organized for people seeking a partner. it's the first event of its kind. the monk thought it was a guy way for people to meet members of the opposite sex. regional government authorities concerned with raising the birthrate have helped publicize

the event. government support for match making activities like this one is a fairly common practice in south korea. participants pay only around $20, the cost of a train fare to join. nine men and four women are taking part, all in their 30s or early 40s. the average marrying age among south korean women is also rising. one reason is the growing number of women seeking a career. all four of the female participants are financially

independent. joung ki ho is 39. he found his full-time job only two years ago and is now thinking abol ho is 39. he found his ful the two and a half hour train ride brings the tour group to the

it's time for the match making activities to begin. monk tries to stir everyone's enthusiasm. to break the ice everyone sings a famous korean love song. ♪ ♪ >> now it's time for several introductio lveral introductions.fveral intreral introductiral

al l introducti >> the women seem much more confident and forthcoming than the men. the men out number the women, so he needs to make sure he didn't miss out on meeting someone.

the tour continues with a boat trip on the lake. to loosen up even more everyone joins in a round of karoake. one of the women appears to have caught his eye. son mi is a 33-year-old office worker. after karaoke the participants are free to engage in conversation. he wastes no time and sits himself down next to mi. some of the other men also want to talk to her. he doesn't have much chance to make an impres.

the end of the tour is approaching. he plucks up the courage to tell her that he wants to get to know her better. unfortunately, she's speaking with another guy. he invites her to come for walk but the other man seems to be taking up all her attention. he eventually

the tour comes to an end. as a result two couples have agreed to start dating. reasons for the increasing number of single, unmarried men in south korea include strong competition for employment caused by an unstable job market and an emphasis on academic history. this chinese restaurant is located in the city of enchong. seo is a 27-year-old university graduate and works here

part-time. less than 60% of south koreans are able to find a full-time job straight away after graduation. seo is one of them. he lives at home with his parents. he studies english five hours a day. after graduating from junior college he found a job as a rehabilitation instructor for people with disabilities but the work was irregular and his income unstable. he decided to enter university and graduated in february 2014. he says it was a lack of english ability that prevented him from finding a full-time position.

he says that in his current situation he can't start think about love and marriage. his parents are concerned about the time it's taking their son to get married and settle down. many south korean men like seo take years to find stable

employment and financial security resulting in a late marria. seoul. 29-year-old min cheol sik lives alone in this tiny cramped room barely getting by on what he can earn as a day laborer. he says he was once attracted to a particular woman. after dropping out of koe indicational school he couldn't only find short term contracts

but says he wadismisd for lack of skill and cheerns. reportedly one in five young people is employed on a contract of less than a year. now a day laborer, he works around ten days a month and earns between 400 and $600. his room is just over three square meters. his monthly rent is around $180. in the communal kitchen he prepares some insignificant noodles for lunch. he lives as frugally as he can. .tignifican.gnificant gnificanhc icant icao ani h.esugs .n foh. lly c

kne he feels stuck and finds it hard to take any initiative. he says love and marriage will remain an unfulfilled dream. television appearances by female north korean defectors are all the rage in south korea these days. more and more men are seeking such women as potential partners. this show helps transformed the negative image of north korean women. the guests down to earth personalities are attracting a lot of attention. over the past few years a

growing number of dating agencies have started offering match making services to north korean women. every year some 2,000 north korean defectors arrive in south kor korea. 70% are women and most are in their 20s and 30s. a thousand north korean women are registered with this agts si. currently there's only around 200 south korean male members but the agency says that figure is increasing by 20% each year. women can register for free, but men have to pay an annual fee of around $3,000 and can meet up to five women. company president, hong seung woo is speaking to a north korean woman about a potential match up.

the perspective husband's conditions are explained to the woman. it's up to her to decide whether she wants to meet him. the woman defected from north korea four years ago. she's 30 and has never married. match making agencies say marrying a local man is the easiest way for north korean women to fit into south korean society.

his wife is originally from north korea. she's also the company's vice president. kim jong ho is registered with the agency. after working as a taxi and truck driver, the 38-year-old began working as a used car salesman just over a year ago. he says that the ongoing recession is affecting sales.

he's dated several south korean women in the past but it's never worked out well. during lunch he checks the profile of a perspective partner from the north korean match making agency. she's 35 years old and 158 centimeters tall.

he doesn't have very high hopes but he's agreed to the meeting any way. the rendezvous takes place at a coffee shop suggested by the agency. he arrives 30 minutes early and waits patiently.

the woman comes from a poor family. she fled from north korea to china when she was 22 to try to earn some money to send back home. she spent the next ten years living in various places. after realizing it was too dangerous to return to north korea she decided to settle in south korea. the pair talk for 30 minutes and seem to be enjoying each other's company.

as the number of unmarried people in south korea continues to increase, match making could be the key to reversing the country's falling fertility rate while offering single men and women some hope of finding a partner and living happily ever after.

hello there. welcome to "newsline." it's thursday, january 15th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. officials at mcdonald's japan are taking steps they hope will clean up the outlets and reputation. they plan to check how sanitation is managed at all of their restaurants worldwide. this follows a series of scandals involving foreign objects found in mcdonald's food. officials with mcdonald's japan say an outside food safety company will check the more than 3,000 outlets. the sanitaryke