If you are thirty-plus and a woman with a masters degree in South Korea, you may need the help of a matchmaker to find love -- and your worried mother may even end up doing the legwork for you.

如果你是一个三十多岁的韩国女硕士，那么你可能需要媒人的帮助才能找到爱情，你那忧心忡忡的妈妈甚至可能亲自跑腿给你物色对象。

As women in this rich Asian country have become better educated, with five times as many now getting advanced degrees as in 1995, they have also become more choosy and are less likely to settle for the role of meek¹ spouse² traditionally expected of Korean women.

"I heard if you are a female with master's degree, it is much harder to arrange a meeting than if you have a bachelors degree because of an unfavorable perception toward 'too smart women' here," said Lee, 24, a college senior in Seoul who wished to be known only by her last name.

The age at which Korean women are getting hitched³（结婚） has risen by an average 4.1 years over the past 20 years to 28.9 years, according to Statistics Korea, and that has created plenty of worried mothers getting things rolling for their daughters.

"My daughter is in her early 30's, an age considered late for marriage here", said a woman in her mid⁴ 50s who wished to be identified only by her surname Ahn and who took her daughter to one of the many match-making agencies in Seoul.

"I was worried that if she does not find her match this year, it will be much more difficult to marry in the coming years, so I went to the firm with her and made her join."

At DUO, a matchmaking firm, its 26,000 members can choose between five different membership programs with fees from 1.08 million won ($971) to 8.8 million won.

In a bid to attract clients, the site displays the average annual income of its male and female customers, as well as statistics on their professional standing⁵.

"In a privately⁶ set up blind date, you cannot be entirely⁷ sure of how much of personal information given to you is accurate," said DUO spokesman Yon Jun.

Critics say the industry prioritizes income, status and materialism⁸（唯物主义） . Local wags have coined the phrase "employage" to sum up employment and marriage.

"If your father works in the financial industry or is a high-ranking administrator⁹, you will find your match with similar backgrounds through a matchmaking firm, starting a perfect marriage on the back of parental¹⁰（父母的） support," said comedian¹¹ Choi Hyo-jong, a presenter¹² on a local satirical（讽刺的） show called "the Wart's Kindergarten".