“I don’t care about a man’s qualifications—as long as he earns 100 million won a year” ... Matchmaking agency CEO delivers a blunt reality check to women in their 20s

[Financial News] A matchmaking agency CEO criticized some women in their 20s who take it for granted that a prospective spouse should earn 100 million won a year, saying, “Are they f***ing crazy? They talk about 100 million won as if it were nothing. That’s a huge misconception.”

Park Jeong-won, CEO of Noble Mariaju, made the remarks recently in a video titled “Why a 100 Million Won Salary Still Doesn’t Cut It in the Marriage Market” on the YouTube channel “Hanbang Unni.”
Sharing his recent experience counseling women in their 20s, Park said he was astonished. “It’s truly unbelievable. They say, ‘I don’t care about a man’s qualifications. If he earns 100 million won a year, that’s enough,’ and talk about the value of that salary as if it were a given,” he said, adding, “They said the figure of 100 million won so casually, as if they were picking out a convenience-store lunchbox.”
Park asked a female production staff member in her 20s what she thought about an annual salary of 100 million won. She replied, “I think a man should be earning around 100 million won a year. Prices have gone up a lot lately, and if he’s a man, shouldn’t he be making around 100 million won?”
In response, Park said, “A 100 million won salary is a ‘price tag for a life spent grinding away.’ It’s the accumulated value of a life built up over 10 to 15 years,” and gave the example of a 38-year-old manager at a large company who earns 120 million won a year.
The man joined the company at 26, was promoted to assistant manager at 30 and to manager at 33. He worked repeated overtime shifts and also spent one to two years posted overseas.
He explained, “I spent the prime years of my life—the years when I could have gotten married—doing nothing but working for the company. Even after returning home, I was put in charge of various projects and often didn’t leave work until 11 p.m. I only managed to get my salary above 100 million won after closing several deals.” He added, “It took 12 years at the company to reach that 100 million won. It wasn’t money I earned just like that. That’s the reality of a 100 million won salary.”

Park said, “Women’s expectations are already set at 50 million won or more. That’s why they talk about 70 million to 80 million won as the baseline and bring up 100 million won,” adding, “When they see social media and the media, 50 million won looks relatively small.”
He added, “Most of the people who say things like this don’t even earn 50 million won a year. An annual salary of 50 million won is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, nor is it a small amount. It’s a figure earned after having one’s abilities proven for at least seven years—a number to be proud of.”
[email protected] An Gaeul Reporter