SEOUL: South Koreans have become a year or two younger as a new law scrapped one traditional system that deemed South Koreans one year old at birth, counting time in the womb.
The new law aligns the nation’s two traditional age-counting methods with international standards. Another law counted everyone as ageing by a year every first day of January instead of on their birthdays.
The switch to age-counting based on birth date took effect Wednesday.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol pushed strongly for the change in law when he ran for office last year. He believed that the traditional age-counting methods in vogue since years created “unnecessary social and economic costs”.
The nation, for instance, faced disputes over insurance pay-outs and determining eligibility for the government assistance programmes.
Previously, the most widely used calculation method in Korea was the centuries-old “Korean age” system, in which a person turns one at birth and gains a year on 1st of January. This means a baby born on 31 December will be two years old the next day.
A separate “counting age” system, that was also traditionally used in the country, considers a person zero at birth and adds a year on 1 January.
This means that, for example, as of 28 June 2023, a person born on 29 June 2003 is 19 under the international system, 20 under the “counting age” system and 21 under the “Korean age” system.
According to a poll by local firm Hankook Research conducted in January 2022, three in four South Koreans were also in favour of the standardisation.
Lawmakers voted the proposal to law to scrap the traditional counting methods last December.
Despite the 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.
The traditional age-counting methods were also used by other East Asian nations, but most have dropped it. Japan adopted the international standard in 1950 while North Korea followed suit in the 1980s