South Koreans Shed a Year or Two as Tradition-Rooted Age-Counting System Ditched

Until now, South Korea has relied on three systems for measuring a person's age: as well as the usual way which is used all over the world, it has two other, ancient systems which are steeped in tradition. However, in December 2022, the country decided to revise its so-called "Korean Age" system, at least on official documents.

Many in South Korea have been expressing their delight that new legislation has made many of them a year - or even two - younger. As of 28 June, the country has officially scrapped its traditional method of measuring age and replaced it - at least on official documents - with the globally accepted approach with many South Koreans conceding online that the “Korean age system” had been a confusing one.

"I am planning to study abroad actually, but now I can just tell them my real age without all the confusion. So I like it," South Korea's Arirang News cited one person as saying.

Many other people welcomed the new approach to measuring their age because it "made them feel as though they had become younger".

The South Korean civil code now recognizes that a person's age should be measured from the date of birth, with a year added at each birthday. However, before 28 June, people in South Korea were typically older than they would be elsewhere around the world, as their own specific practice included time spent in the mother’s womb when calculating one's age.

The South Koreans made a few more tweaks to how age is measured, such as ditching the way of dating everyone's birth from New Year’s Day - 1 January.

Seoul view, South Korea

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However, to eradicate the confusion arising in South Korean society thanks to the various ways of measuring age - especially when such legally important milestones as when one was old enough to drink or vote was concerned - some revision was decided on. At the end of last year, the South Korean parliament passed a law to ensure that the so-called "Korean Age" system will no longer be allowed in official paperwork.

Changing the way of measuring one's age was in fact a campaign pledge of President Yoon Suk Yeol who vowed to standardize age counting, to get rid of confusion and “unnecessary social and economic costs." As for the Koreans themselves, three-quarters approved of the planned change, a Hankook Research poll dated January 2022 showed.

The revision, however, is not universal and, to avoid confusion, officials on Wednesday went to bars, stores, and various localities to offer clarification as part of an outreach campaign, according to media reports.

For example, children will ostensibly still start elementary school in accordance with the “year age” counting system, when one is "zero" at birth, with a year added every 1 January - which means that a child born on 31 December will turn one when it is a day old the next day. Moreover, at least at present, this “year age” or "counting age" will be used to determine when a person may be allowed to drink alcohol or buy tobacco. This legal requirement will remain to 19 (ie, for those born in 2004, or before). The same exception will apply to the age when one must present oneself for compulsory conscription, in line with the Military Service Act.