South Koreans To Get Younger in June 2023. Here's How

As per the existing system of calculating age, most Koreans are deemed to be a year old at birth and a year is added on every January 1. It’s this age most commonly cited by Koreans in everyday life.

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All South Koreans will get younger by a year or two on their official documents next year in June as the country has passed laws to scrap its traditional method of counting ages and adopt the international standards, reported the Guardian. 

As per the existing system of calculating age, most Koreans are deemed to be a year old at birth and a year is added on every January 1. It’s this age most commonly cited by Koreans 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 1 January.

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

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

“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, stated the report. 

The origin of such a method of calculating age in South Korea is still unclear. 

According to one theory, turning one-year old at birth takes into account the time spent in womb, with nine months rounded upto 12. Others link it to an ancient Asian numerical system that did not have the concept of zero.

Explanations for the extra year added on 1 January are more complicated.

Some experts point to the theory that ancient Koreans placed their year of birth within the Chinese 60-year calendar cycle, but, at a time when there were no regular calendars, tended to ignore the day of their birth and simply added a whole year on the first day of the lunar calendar. The extra year on 1 January became commonplace as more South Koreans began observing the western calendar.