The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said Wednesday the company had used the claims across its website, blog and outdoor advertisements since April 2022. The regulator also ordered the company to correct the practices.
Among the slogans were statements that it had “the industry’s largest 5,135 professional members” and “16,479 members from prestigious universities, the most in the industry.”
However, the regulator found that the firm created its own definitions of what qualified as a professional occupation or prestigious university and calculated the figures using those standards. It did not compare its membership data with competitors or provide objective evidence.
The company also advertised itself as “the industry’s only corporation subject to an external audit” and “the only matchmaking company in Korea disclosed through the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).”
The FTC determined those claims were false because Baroyeon, another matchmaking company, also had external audit reports available on DART, the FSS’s electronic disclosure system.
The company also overstated the size of its matchmaking staff. It advertised having as many as 230 professional matchmakers, but only 188 employees were dedicated to arranging matches between members as of October 2023. The advertised total included other employees who were not directly involved in matchmaking.
The watchdog said such claims could mislead consumers because information about membership and matchmakers can influence their choices. It therefore classified the statements as false or exaggerated advertising under the country’s advertising law.
The FTC said it would continue monitoring advertising in the matchmaking industry to ensure that information affecting consumer decisions is presented accurately.
AJP Takeaways
• South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission fined matchmaking company Duo 345 million won ($250,000) on August 26, 2026, for misleading advertisements claiming it had the industry’s largest number of professional members and graduates from prestigious universities without objective evidence.
• The Fair Trade Commission found that Duo used its own definitions to count professional and elite-university members, while also falsely claiming to be the only matchmaking company subject to an external audit.
• Duo also advertised having as many as 230 professional matchmakers, but the Fair Trade Commission found that only 188 employees were dedicated to arranging matches as of October 2023.
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