Are you a single female professional who needs a date fast? If you live in South Korea, for about $45, a man will pose as your husband for two to three hours.
An up-and-coming business is now advertising men for rent; it’s a growing trend among single career women in their 30s and 40s who need a companion for work functions, holidays and social gatherings where showing up as a couple is encouraged. The hired hubbies can also be used to make an appearance at business dealings such as signing a real estate contract, the Chosun Ilbo reports.
“The price is manageable and it’s really efficient,” one unidentified female banker told the Chosun Ilbo. “I don’t plan on marrying soon so I’m going to use the service from time to time.”
Such temporary husbands can even serve as a companion for everyday activities, like dinner dates for someone who doesn’t want to dine alone.
But not everyone is excited about the prospect of “relationships” for-hire.
“If we put a price on non-material things like family, we may end up harming the very values that we hold dearest,” Kim Seok-ho of Sungkyunkwan University told the Chosun Ilbo. “This rental culture has been created by people’s inability to accept that they can’t have everything.”
Other similar services also provide stand-in family members, friends and pets-for-rent, which is popular among short-term residents of Korea who seek canine companionship but can’t afford veterinary costs and other expenses.
