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A new law has changed South Korea’s age-counting methods, aligning them with international standards and resulting in Koreans being considered younger by a year or two. The law eliminates one traditional system that counts individuals as one year old at birth, including time spent in the womb. It also replaces a scenario where everyone aged by a year on the first day of January rather than their actual birthdays. The transition to birth date-based age-counting took effect recently.
President Yoon Suk Yeol strongly advocated for this change during his presidential campaign, stating the traditional age-counting methods led to unnecessary social and economic complications. Issues such as insurance disputes and determining eligibility for government assistance programs are rising. Previously, the predominant age calculation method in Korea was the “Korean age” system, which considered individuals to be one year old at birth and incremented their age on January 1st. Under this system, a baby born on December 31st would be regarded as two years old the next day.
Another traditional age-counting system, known as the “counting age” system, considered individuals zero at birth and added a year on January 1st. For example, as of June 28, 2023, a person born on June 29, 2003, would be 19 according to the international system, 20 under the “counting age” system, and 21 under the “Korean age” system.
Lawmakers voted to abandon these traditional counting methods in December. However, specific existing regulations that determine a person’s age based on the “counting age” calendar year system will remain unchanged. For instance, South Koreans will still be able to purchase cigarettes and alcohol from the year they turn 19 rather than on their actual birthdate.
A local firm Hankook Research poll in January 2022 indicated that three out of four South Koreans favored this standardization. Many individuals, like Jeongsuk Woo, hope that this change will contribute to breaking down Korea’s hierarchical culture. The 28-year-old content creator remarked that ageism is ingrained in people’s behavior, including the complex language system based on age. Woo expressed hope that abolishing the “Korean age” system and adopting the international standard will eliminate remnants of the past.
Hyun Jeong Byun, a 31-year-old doctor, shared her excitement about the change, mentioning that she now feels two years younger. As her birthday falls in December, she thought the Korean age system made her socially older than her actual age. With South Korea following the global standard, Byun no longer needs to explain her “Korean age” when traveling abroad. She also noted that the medical sector in South Korea has already transitioned to the international age system.
While these traditional age-counting methods were also used in other East Asian countries, most have abandoned them. Japan adopted the international standard in 1950, and North Korea followed suit in the 1980s.
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Source: Omanghana.com
