A new law has been adopted in South Korea that aligns the country’s traditional age calculation methods with international standards, and South Koreans have therefore become a year or two younger, the BBC reports.
The new law abolishes the previous, traditional age reference systems. The transition to determining age based on the date of birth takes effect on Wednesday, the 28th of June.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol already strongly defended the need for change last year during the election campaign. He said that
traditional age reference systems create unnecessary social and economic costs.
For example, there are often discussions about insurance costs and how to determine a person’s eligibility for government assistance programs.
Previously, the most widely used in South Korea was the centuries-old so-called “Korean age” system, which used the 1st of January of each new year as a reference point, and a person was already one year old at the time of birth. Another, similar system, which is also widely used, is called the “counting age” system, and according to it, a person is at the zero point at the moment of birth, and the 1st of January is considered the first birthday.
This means that a person born on the 29th of June, 2003, today, on the 28th of June, 2023, is 19 years old according to the internationally accepted system, 20 years old according to the “counting age” system, and 21 years old if using “Korean age” system.
The information gathered in January 2022 by Hankook Research, a local public opinion pollster, shows that
three out of four South Koreans support the transition to the use of the international standard.
Lawmakers voted on the changes last December.
Despite the changes, many laws based on the “counting age” system will remain in force. For example, South Koreans can buy alcohol and cigarettes from the year – not the day – they turn 19.
Other East Asian countries have also used local age reference systems in the past, but they have already started using international standards.