'I buy designer goods as a reward for having worked hard,' the 31-year-old freelance interpreter said as she caressed the bag's purple and gold spangles at an Italian eatery in Seoul's Apgujeong district, dotted with clothing boutiques and spas.

'I am happy with my life. Why give up all that by marrying?'

Ms Kim, who earns US$100,000 a year, is one of a new generation of women who are forsaking marriage to pursue professional careers, upsetting the country's patriarchal order.

These so-called 'Gold Misses' have attracted the attention of banks and retailers which offer special accounts and wine-tasting classes to win their business.

'Women started to realise that they no longer have to rely on men for a happy and comfortable life,' said Mr Bae Eun Kyung, an assistant sociology professor at Seoul National University.

'They started to really question the system.'

The average age at which women first marry rose from 25.7 in 1997 to 28.1 years last year, National Statistical Office data showed. The average number of children a woman had in her lifetime fell to 1.26 from 1.54.

South Korea ranked 64th last year for the level of female participation in society, according to the UN Development Programme, behind the Philippines and Vietnam.

The social and economic status of women lags behind because the country was historically influenced by the teachings of the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius, said Dr Hyun Taik Soo, a sociology professor at Korea University in Seoul.

'One of the major teachings of Confucianism was that men are superior to women, making women's role peripheral and subordinate to men.'

'Gold Misses' are defined as single women aged between 30 and 45, holding college degrees and who have an annual income of at least US$40,000. Their numbers soared to 27,233 in 2006 from 2,152 five years earlier, according to the state-run Korea Employment Information Service.

Still a small part of the female workforce at 0.3 per cent, these women are being monitored because their ranks are expected to swell as lifestyles change, said Mr Park Sang Hyun, a researcher at a Seoul-based agency.

Traditionalists say the trend is undermining South Korean society.

'It was instigated by a few feminists and youngsters who indulge in Western culture,' said Mr Choi Jong Dong, secretary-general of an alliance to preserve traditional family values.

'It is lamentable how women's selfishness is leading to the rupture of families in Korea, which has historically valued families as the root of sound ethics.'

Ms Lee Ae Shil, a 33-year-old housewife who is studying to become an accountant with full support from her husband, said marriage does not necessarily mean sacrifice.

'Having a husband and a child has not prevented me from doing things I want to do,' said Ms Lee, who quit her job as a fixed-income analyst when she married in 2004 and decided to go back to work after giving birth to a daughter two years ago.

Until now, social prejudices stopped Ms Ha Eun Kyung, 36, vice-president of luxury-villa management company Dongyaloo, from buying a foreign car.

Now the US$150,000-a-year executive is preparing to buy either a Lexus or Mercedes-Benz sedan.

'When you are a woman and single in Korea, driving a foreign car will draw more disapproving looks than envious ones,' said Ms Ha, who has spent as much as US$10,000 in a weekend to relieve stress.

'People don't think I worked hard to deserve it. Instead, they assume there must be something fishy behind my wealth.'

BLOOMBERG