SEOUL, Jan 31 — South Korea’s latest social craze is golden, salty and best shared in fistfuls. 

What started as a small curiosity has turned into a full-blown urban fad, with young South Koreans arranging casual “fry meetups” through community apps and social media.

According to The Korea Times, listings for these gatherings have been multiplying on Karrot, the neighbourhood marketplace known for spawning micro-communities. 

Ninety-nine fry groups have appeared so far, including 11 in Seoul alone. A Mapo District “fry club” amassed more than 700 members in just two weeks, while a Gangnam group dedicated solely to McDonald’s fries pulled in around 500.

Across Instagram and X, screenshots of these invitations — “Let’s eat fries together!” — are circulating widely. 

Some posts show people sitting cross-legged in parks, unwrapping armfuls of fries from different fast-food chains; others depict tables crowded with paper cups, dipping sauces and a democratic spread of McDonald’s, Lotteria and homemade offerings. 

One popular reel shows people laughing over taste-tests, passing around fries like calling cards and rating crispiness as if it were a competitive sport.

Part of the appeal is how disarmingly simple it is. No dress codes, no pressure, no curated personalities. You just show up with fries. 

Several Instagram captions frame it as a “zero-effort way to meet people” and a small antidote to big-city isolation — a contrast to heavily structured meetups or workplace networking.

The craze follows earlier oddball social fads, like the short-lived “cops and robbers” gatherings inspired by a childhood chase game. 

These interest-based meetups are also part of a broader return to offline socialising among Korea’s young adults, who in recent years have turned to hyper-specific communities — film marathons, silent reading groups, walking clubs — to break out of algorithmic bubbles and make small, human connections again.

And so fry clubs have stuck because they speak to something far more universal: a craving for simple, fuss-free togetherness in a city where social life can be high-stakes and tightly scheduled — a reminder that in a hyper-connected world, sometimes the most disarming social icebreaker is simply: “Want to grab fries?”