Asia-Pacific

South Koreans to become younger as traditional age system ditched

System in which people are deemed to be a year old at birth will end in June 2023

Buddhists pray at a Seoul temple. South Korea is to scrap its traditional way of counting age. File photograph: ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images

Fri Dec 9 2022 - 08:14

South Korea on Thursday passed laws to scrap its traditional method of counting ages in a move that will make its citizens one or two years younger on official documents.

Koreans are deemed to be a year old when born and a year is added every January 1st. This is the age most commonly cited in everyday life.

A separate system also exists for conscription purposes or calculating the legal age to drink alcohol and smoke, in which a person’s age is calculated from zero at birth and a year is added on January 1st.

Since the early 1960s, however, South Korea has for medical and legal documents also used the international norm of calculating from zero at birth and adding a year on every birthday.

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The confusing array of systems will disappear – at least on official documents – when the new laws that stipulate using only the international method of counting ages take effect in June 2023.

“The revision is aimed at reducing unnecessary socio-economic costs because legal and social disputes as well as confusion persist due to the different ways of calculating age,” Yoo Sang-bum of the ruling People Power Party told parliament.

Jeong Da-eun (29), an office worker, is happy about the change, saying she has always had to think twice when asked overseas about her age.

"I remember foreigners looking at me with puzzlement because it took me so long to come back with an answer on how old I was."

“Who wouldn’t welcome getting a year or two younger?” she added. – Reuters

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