![]() ![]() ![]() The decision is the result of years of campaigning by lawmakers fed up with the multiple systems. “The state and local governments shall encourage citizens to use their ‘international age’ and conduct necessary promotion for that,” it says. The law passed Thursday will standardize the use of international age across all “judicial and administrative areas,” according to the parliament website and documents related to the bill. However, some laws – including those surrounding the legal ages for drinking, smoking, and military conscription – use calendar year age. Most people use Korean age, which has its roots in China, in everyday life and social scenarios, while international age is more often used for legal and official matters – for instance, when dealing with civil laws. If this sounds confusing, it is, with daily life in the country often switching between the hodgepodge of different systems. In South Korea, you're a 1-year-old the day you're born. AFP PHOTO / JUNG Yeon-Je / TO GO WITH SKorea-children-social-UN,FEATURE by Park Chan-Kyong (Photo credit should read JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images) AFP Contributor/AFP/AFP/Getty Images The number of abandoned babies has jumped in recent years in the wake of a law intended to protect children. This photo taken on shows a social worker caring for a baby at the Jusarang Community Church in southern Seoul. Born on December 31, 1977, he is considered 44 by international age 45 by calendar year age and 46 by Korean age. Take “Gangnam Style” singer Psy, for example. In some circumstances, South Koreans also use their “calendar age” – a kind of mash-up between international and Korean age – which consider babies as zero years old the day they’re born and adds a year to their age every January 1. Under this system, babies are considered a year old on the day they’re born, with a year added every January 1. In South Korea, a person’s “international age” refers to the number of years since they were born, and starts at zero – the same system used in most other countries.īut when asked their age in informal settings, most South Koreans will answer with their “Korean age,” which could be one or even two years older than their “international age.” That move, which follows a long-running debate over the issue, will bring the country into line with most of the rest of the world and cut down on legal discrepancies that arise from the use of three different systems. South Koreans are about to get a year or two younger, thanks to a new law passed on Thursday that aims to standardize how age is calculated in the country.Īt present it’s common for South Koreans to have not just one age, but three – an “international age,” a “Korean age” and a “calendar age.”īut to end confusion, the country’s parliament has decreed that from June 2023 all official documents must use the standard “international age.” ![]()
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