Explained: How all of South Korea will become a year younger

South Korea, it seems, is turning back time on its citizens! South Koreans will soon become a year or two younger, following an official change to the country’s age-counting system.

The South Korean parliament passed a law on Thursday to scrap the country’s traditional method of counting age. From June 2023, the so-called ‘Korean Age’ system will no longer be permitted on documents and only the standardised method will remain.

The Justice Ministry announced the change in the age-counting method on Thursday through a statement, which read: “South Korea is getting younger!” It also asked people to “unite” behind the new system for official documents that will bring the country into alignment with the international standard.

What is ‘Korean age’?

In South Korea, when a baby is born it is considered a year old. As the year changes on 1 January, the child gains one more year.

South Koreans also count age based on their birth year and not days. A child born in December then is already two by January.

Why the change in the system?

Lee Yong-ho, the chief of the president-elect’s transition committee, said the incoming administration was looking to standardise the way age is counted to bring South Korea in line with the rest of the world.

He said the different age calculations had resulted in “persistent confusion” and “unnecessary social and economic costs”, reports BBC.

The calls for the age counting to be standardised started this January when health authorities used the international age and Korean ages interchangeably to set guidelines for COVID-19 vaccine guidelines and policies, reports The Korean Herald. This created a lot of confusion.

Does Korea follow the international system?

Yes, it does. This means South Korea has three ways to count age.

For legal and administrative processes, the country has been using the international counting system since 1962.

In the other official way of counting age, babies are born at age 0 and gain a year annually on 1  January. Under this system, someone born in December 2020 is already one by January, even if they don’t turn one until December 2021.

This method is mainly used to define the legal age for areas of law that affect a significant percentage of the population, including military service conscription, reports BBC.

The third is the ‘Korean’ age system where everyone is already a year old at birth and becomes older on New Year’s Day regardless of the birth date.

What are the origins of the Korean age system?

This is a centuries-old method that is followed across the country, large parts of which are still traditional. It has its origins in China and other parts of Asia, but South Korea is the only country that reportedly still follows it.

What are the problems with the traditional system?

“There would be much less confusion if we could have the same idea of what it means to be how old we actually are,” Lee said, adding that his team would push for this change to be implemented by early 2023. The process would involve amending the existing law, not proposing new legislation.

A recent wage dispute complaint was dragged to the Supreme Court, which ruled that workers should consider their international age when the company officially communicates to them its plan involving extra wages.

There have also been cases of parents trying to cheat the birth registration system because of worries that their children born in December will be at a disadvantage at school, as a result, later in life, reports BBC.

Has there never been an effort to change the system?

In the past, South Korean authorities have tried to bring in a uniform age-counting system.

In 2019 and 2021, two separate lawmakers proposed legislation to back the international age system. However, the bills were not signed into law.

“I don’t expect any kind of pushback from the National Assembly this time,” Lee said, noting the parliament, where President Moon Jae-in’s ruling Democratic Party of Korea holds majority control, would not oppose Yoon’s move. The lawmaker who attempted a change in legislation in 2021 was from Moon’s party, reports The Korean Herald.

What are the sentiments of the public?

Seven out of 10 Koreans supported the change, according to pollster HanKook Research, which surveyed 1,000 adults in December last year.

However, some experts have their reservations.

Jang Yoo-seung, a senior researcher at the Oriental Studies Research Centre in Dankook University told BBC that the Korean age is a reflection of tradition. “Our society does not seem too concerned about abandoning tradition. Are we at risk of abandoning our own uniqueness and culture and becoming more monotonous,” he asked.

With inputs from agencies

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