South Koreans become younger overnight

On Wednesday, many in South Korea discovered that they were one year, and in some cases, even two years, younger than they had been on Tuesday. Due to the implementation of a new law that abolished South Korea's old age-counting system and replaced it with the global approach, there was a significant reduction in the average age of the population.In a briefing on Monday, Minister of Government Legislation Lee Wan-kyu stated that we anticipate the legal issues, complaints, and societal misunderstanding brought on by the issue of calculating ages would be significantly decreased.

How does South Korea calculate age?

Every person's birthday adds a year to their international age. A Korean's international age is always one or two years older. Koreans are one year old at birth because they calculate a year in the womb as part of their age. Koreans add one year to their Korean age on New Year's Day regardless of their birthdate According to the international system, a person born on July 1, 1998 is 24 years old and will be 25 on July 1. However, under the Korean age system, the person is 26 because they were one year old at birth and will acquire another year on New Year's Day.

Photo Koreans age system
Why is South Korea's age-counting system different?

China, Japan, and North Korea, among others, also used the old approach decades ago. It persisted in South Korea because "year age" is significant in Korean, where people use honorifics like "unni" and "oppa" instead of names. According to anthropologist Mo Hyun-joo, "Age is crucial." Without knowing someone's age, communication is tough. In the old system, all pupils were the same age and could speak without linguistic hierarchies.

South Korea also has a third age-counting system. It is used to calculate a student's academic year, when he or she must begin mandatory military service, and when he or she can purchase alcohol. This system is comparable to the conventional one, with the exception that it begins with the year zero. The new law has had no effect on this system, which is expected to remain in place.