It may seem strange, but there is a justification. The more than 51 million South Koreans woke up this Wednesday (June 28) one or two years younger due to the new system that takes age into account.
Until now, South Koreans have been considered one year old at birth under the traditional system. More. Each time a new year came, a year was added, that is, whoever was born on December 31 was two years old the next day.
As of today, the system has changed and South Koreans are younger when age is calculated by date of birth. So everyone is officially a year or two younger.
South Korea was the last East Asian country to officially still use an age calculation method that stipulates that babies are one year old at birth, counting the months in the womb as their first year of life.
Lee Jung-hee would have turned 60 next year, but when the country decided to abandon its traditional age-counting system, the housewife from Seoul is a year younger and has made no secret of her excitement about this change. “It’s a good feeling,” he told AFP.
“For people like me, who should be 60 next year, it makes us feel younger,” he said with a laugh.
China, Japan and even North Korea abandoned the traditional system decades ago, but it has remained in South Korea.
Legal and administrative services already counted age based on date of birth
“It’s confusing when a foreigner asks me how old I am because I know they mean international age, so I have to do some calculations,” Hong Suk-min, an office worker, told AFP.
Hong added after a pause that he was 45 under the international system and 47 under the South Korean system.
The official change will have limited impact in practice, because many legal and administrative services, including the age that counts in the passport, the age at which someone can be prosecuted as a minor, pension benefits or health services already use the date of birth. of age under the traditional system.
The government hopes the change will clear up confusion, citing, for example, the issue of older South Koreans thinking they are eligible for pensions and free travel expenses years before they are legally eligible.
complex calculation
“There is a difference between the age used by South Koreans in their daily lives and the legal age, and this can lead to various legal disputes,” Lee Wan-kyu, Seoul’s government law minister, told AFP.
The official, who oversees the country’s official age change, kicked off a press conference to teach South Korean journalists how to determine their age.
“Subtract your birth year from the current year. If your birthday has passed, that’s your age, and if your birthday hasn’t passed yet, subtract one to get your age,” said Lee Wan-kyu.
Some key areas, including the school year, the right to conscription and the legal drinking age, are determined by another separate age system – known as the “age of the year” – and that system will remain in place for now.
This means, for example, anyone born in 2004 – be it January or December – can begin the military enlistment process from January 1, 2023, as everyone is considered to be at least 19 years old.
The government may consider revising the use of “age of the year” for these areas depending on how current changes play out, Lee said.
“I like being younger”
“Age really matters” in South Korean culture, anthropologist Mo Hyun-joo told AFP, because it affects a person’s social status and determines what honorifics to use when interacting with others. “It is difficult to communicate with people without knowing their age,” said the expert.
People often use terms like “unni” and “oppa” — meaning big sister and big brother, respectively — instead of addressing each other by name in conversation, he explained.
For now, most South Koreans, like student Yoon Jae-ha from the southern port city of Busan, will simply feel younger when the new legislation takes effect. “My age has shrunk,” he told AFP. “I like being younger because then my mother will take care of me longer,” he added.
Source: DN
