On December 25, Christmas day, a singles party somewhat different from the previous day’s Solo Daecheop (Great Victory of Singles), a nationwide blind date among young singles, was held in front of the Donghwa Duty Free Shop at Gwanghwamun, Seoul. The event was titled, “A Bittersweet Christmas Party of Leftist Singles for the Liberation from binnong(loneliness).”

The word binnongwas coined as an antonym to bunong (bunhong, pink), and refers to people marginalized from “rose-colored (pink)” romantic relationships. The twenty and more leftist singles who gathered this day in the biting cold, which froze your fingertips, insisted on overcoming loneliness through solidarity with people in need rather than through romantic relationships.

Park Miro (22, alias), who first proposed this event on Facebook and Twitter, said, “People say they want to fall in love since they’re lonely, but I wondered whether falling in love was the only solution.”

Park said, “When you watch the TV commercial of a credit card company telling us to use their credit card when eating out, watching a movie, drinking coffee with your lover, you realize that dating has been contaminated with too much consumerism. I wanted to talk about the possibility of various relationships other than romantic ones.”

Oh Byeong-heon (24), who attended the party, said, “We need to think about whether our efforts to survive in this competition for dating is actually for our happiness.” He added, “Some people fall behind in this competition to increase one’s value in order to find a date--losing weight, getting cosmetic surgery, brushing up on various cultural skills--and they either can’t find a lover or can’t even engage in the competition.”

He thinks people can overcome loneliness through social solidarity and not necessarily dating. The participants made donations to the “Let’s Live Together! Demonstration Site” in front of Daehanmun. They spent Christmas confirming their solidarity with the laid-off workers of Ssangyong Motor, the residents of Gangjeong village, and the bereaved families of the Yongsan disaster.

Jin Dallae (24), a member of the Incheon Green Party, said, “My friends and I thought about what we could do on Christmas and came out here with picket signs to inform people about the agenda of the Green Party.”

She said, “When someone can’t date, everyone automatically blames the individual, but I think this is the same as turning social issues like poverty into private ones. I would like to free myself from the dominant discourse on dating and seek ways to be with other people through solidarity.”

The leftist singles ended this day’s event by marching through Myeongdong--a popular place for dating couples--to the Myeongdong Cathedral. They plan to start a group which will study and discuss relationships beyond romantic affairs.