South Koreans could be forgiven for asking “how old am I again?” after their system of counting ages was changed to fit international standards.
Under previous laws, a child in the East Asian country was counted as being one-year-old upon birth and then had a year added every January 1. But this was changed on Wednesday to fit the model of being zero at the time of birth and then counting years from a birthday.
It has meant that South Korea’s population of nearly 52 million now find themselves at least one year younger. This might be a relief for those nearing a big birthday or frustrating for anyone looking forward to increased freedoms.
Since the early 1960s, South Korea has used the international norm of calculating from zero at birth and adding a year on every birthday for medical and legal documents. But many South Koreans continued to use the traditional method for everything else.
The new law was approved in December, meaning that will now change for all official purposes bar some exceptions.
Minister of government legislation, Lee Wan-kyu, told a briefing on Monday: “We expect legal disputes, complaints and social confusion that have been caused over how to calculate ages will be greatly reduced.”
A government survey in September 2022 showed that 86 per cent of South Koreans said they would use the international age in their everyday life when the new laws took effect.
However, the traditional system will be kept for the time being for school entrance and calculating the legal age to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes.
This also applies to conscription, with all Korean men in good health currently needing to complete around 18 months of service — something members of boyband BTS are currently contemplating.
Korea resident Hyun Jeong Byun told the BBC: “I love it, because now I'm two years younger. My birthday is in December, so I always felt like this Korean age system is making me socially older than what I actually am.
“Now that Korea is following the global standard, I no longer have to explain my 'Korean age' when I go abroad.”
