Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- In an effort to stop a falling fertility rate and find destined lovers for single citizens, a South Korean city will create an artificial intelligence-based couple matchmaking service through cooperation with local startups.

Gwangju, a city some 270 kilometers (167 miles) south of Seoul, signed an agreement on January 7 with Inforex, a big data-based matchmaking app operator, and Ghostpass, a digital identity authentication service company, to develop a matchmaking platform for unmarried men and women.

"Now is the time when no product, service, or industry will maintain its competitiveness unless it is converged with AI," Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop told reporters during the agreement ceremony held at the city hall. Gwangju city officials hope the AI-based matchmaking platform will provide an all-in-one service to promote childbirth and help singles to find their match, get married, and nurture children.

Government data showed that South Korea's total fertility rate, the number of children who would be born per woman fell from 4.53 in 1970 to 0.98 in 2018. The government has provided subsidies and other benefits for young married couples and those with children of more than three, but the fertility rate continues to fall. Experts predict the rate would stay below 0.9 this year.