Matchmaking service member fined 47.5 million won for failing to disclose...

The picture shows a wedding. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Love came with strings attached for one member of a matchmaking service, who has been ordered to pay 47.5 million won ($32,600) for failing to disclose a marriage after meeting a spouse through the service.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of a matchmaking company in a lawsuit seeking contractual payments from the member, ordering the member to pay the amount, plus delayed-payment interest and a penalty, according to the legal community on Tuesday.

The court recognized both the 11.9 million won marriage success fee stipulated in the contract signed upon the member's joining the matchmaking company and the full penalty of 35.6 million won, equivalent to three times the fee.

The member signed the contract with the matchmaking company in September 2022 after paying a 5.3 million won membership fee in exchange for five arranged meetings with prospective partners.

The contract stated that the member had to pay a marriage success fee of 11.9 million won within two weeks if a wedding date was confirmed or a formal family meeting date was set. It also stated that failure to do so would result in a penalty equivalent to three times the fee.

The member was introduced to a member of one of the matchmaking company’s affiliated firms in January 2023 and married that person in June that year. However, the member did not inform the matchmaking company of the marriage or pay the marriage success fee.

The matchmaking company filed a lawsuit against the member after belatedly learning of the marriage.

A pedestrian walks past the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Feb. 18, 2026. [NEWS1]

The member argued that "the membership had been canceled through [the member’s] father one month before the wedding and therefore was not obligated to pay either the marriage success fee or the penalty." However, the court determined that the contractual obligation to pay the marriage success fee remained valid despite the membership termination.

“The withdrawal from the matchmaking company is acknowledged, but it is difficult to conclude that the contract with the matchmaking company was terminated by agreement,” the court stated. "The obligation to pay the marriage success fee cannot be avoided, considering that the parties agreed at the time of the contract that the marriage success fee would still be paid even if the marriage took place after the contract period expired.”

The court also found that the member was obligated to pay the penalty under the agreement with the company.

“The marriage success fee constitutes deferred compensation for services provided by the matchmaking company, and a means of indirectly compelling fulfillment of the payment obligation is necessary once a marriage takes place,” the court explained. “The court determined that the penalty clause was intended to psychologically pressure members to notify the company of the marriage and pay the marriage success fee, considering that a matchmaking company would have difficulty learning of a marriage unless the member voluntarily disclosed it.”

The member appealed the first ruling.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.