‘Reverse’ aging: All South Koreans are now younger by a year!

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: When do we become one year old? At birth? Or a year after birth?

Unlike other countries, a South Korean child was, until now, deemed a year old the day he or she was born because of society’s traditional age counting practices.

Not anymore.

For, South Korea has now joined the rest of the world!

In effect, South Koreans have now become a year or two younger thanks to a new law that aligns the nation’s two traditional age-counting traditions with global standards, the media reported on Thursday.

The new legislation has scrapped a traditional system that deemed South Koreans one-year-old at birth, counting time in the womb. Another counted a person as aging by a year on the first day of January each year, instead of on their birthdays.

The switch to age-counting based on a birth date took effect on Wednesday.

Interestingly, these traditions also became an election issue. President Yoon Suk Yeol pushed strongly for the change to match international standards when he ran for office last year. The traditional age-counting methods created “unnecessary social and economic costs,” he said.

For instance, disputes emerged over insurance payouts and determining eligibility for government assistance programs.

Earlier, the most widely used calculation method was the centuries-old “Korean age” system, in which a person turns one at birth and gains a year on the first day of January. This means a baby born on December 31 will be two years old the next day!

A separate “counting age” system, which was also traditionally used in the country, considered a person zero at birth and adds a year on the first day of January.

For example, as of June 28, 2023, a person born on June 29, 2003, is 19 under the international system, 20 under the “counting age” system, and 21 under the “Korean age” system.

Lawmakers voted to scrap the traditional counting methods last December.

Despite the pragmatic move, many existing statutes that count a person’s age based on the “counting age” calendar year system will remain. For example, South Koreans can buy cigarettes and alcohol from the year – not the day – they turn 19.

Almost three-fourths of South Koreans favored standardization, according to a poll conducted in January 2022.

Some people, like Jeongsuk Woo, a 28-year-old content creator, hoped the change will help break down Korea’s hierarchical culture.

“There is a subconscious layer of ageism in people’s behavior. This is evident even in the complex language system based on age… I hope the abolition of the ‘Korean age’ system and the adaptation of the international standard will rid us of the relics of the past,” the BBC quoted him as saying.

Another citizen, Hyun Jeong Byun, said he was two years younger now. “My birthday is in December, so I always felt like this Korean age system is making me socially older than what I actually am.

“Now that Korea is following the global standard, I no longer have to explain my ‘Korean age’ when I go abroad.”

South Korea’s medical sector had already adopted the international age system.

The traditional age-counting methods were also used by other East Asian countries, but most have dropped them.

Japan adopted the international standard in 1950 while North Korea followed suit in the 1980s.