How South Korea's complex age custom has endured

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Presidential transition committee plans to scrap Korean age

By Lee Hyo-jin

"How old are you?" Answering this simple question often becomes a challenge for foreign nationals living in Korea who are not yet familiar with the country's unique system of counting one's age.

In fact, when Koreans are asked their age by foreign nationals, they tend to give several answers, followed by an explanation about the different ways of counting age.

Korea has three ways of counting an individual's age: the Korean traditional "counting age" system, the internationally recognized system and a third system used for convenience when one's exact birthdate is unknown.

Unlike the international norm that starts with the age of zero at birth and then adds a year on birthdays, under the Korean system, a newborn baby's age is counted starting from one rather than zero, and everyone gets a year older all together on New Year's Day. So on Jan. 1, hospital maternity wards are filled with two-year-old babies born yesterday.

This traditional system is used widely in daily life, while the international system, which was introduced in the country in 1962, is used in official records and the civil code.

In addition, there is a third system in which newborns start out at age zero, but everybody's age advances on New Year's Day, regardless of their actual date of birth. This method is used for military conscription and for defining the age of juveniles under the Youth Protection Act.

Korean age

The origin of the Korean age system remains unclear even among researchers, according to Jang Yoo-seung, a professor at Dankook University's Academy of Asian Studies.

"One theory is that one year is counted on the day of birth taking into account the 10 months spent in the mother's womb, which is then rounded up to one year. Some link it to the absence of the concept of zero in the ancient Asian numerical system," Jang told The Korea Times.

He pointed out that in the past, Korea was not the only country using this system, as it was shared among neighboring countries including China, Japan and Vietnam.

Nonetheless, the custom was abolished in China during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, while the Japanese government adopted the international age system in the early 20th century and later banned the use of the traditional system in the 1950s. North Korea standardized the international norm in the 1980s.

Confusing 'Korean age' system dies hard

2019-01-02 15:39

As to why South Korea is the only country with the tradition in widespread, active use, Jang said, "There were attempts to replace the traditional method with the international system during the Japanese colonial period, but it was met with strong protests from Koreans, just as they were against the use of the Gregorian calendar ― a reason why some traditional holidays are based on the lunar calendar to this date."

Nevertheless, the mixed use of the various systems in counting legal and social age has led to confusion and occasional disputes in Korean society.

During the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the government restricted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on people under age 30, citing potential risks of side effects, but it did not clarify initially which age system it was basing this age limit on.

In addition, the implementation of the vaccine pass, in which people should show proof of vaccination to enter a multiuse facility, was extended to children between 12 and 17, prompting confusion among parents whose children were between 10 and 12 years old.

In the business sector, legal disputes have arisen between labor and management regarding the retirement age ― in terms of whether it should it be based on Korean or international age ― with the issue even being taken to the Supreme Court in March of this year.

Will Yoon administration abolish Korean age?

Lee Yong-ho, chief of the presidential transition team's political, judicial and administrative subcommittee, announces plans to abolish the Korean age system, during a press briefing held at the committee's office in Seoul, Monday. Joint Press Corps

These debates are why the transition committee for President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol seeks to scrap the Korean counting age system and standardize the international age system by amending the civil code and laws related to social services.

"Due to the different calculations of legal and social age, we have experienced unnecessary social and economic costs from persistent confusion and disputes when receiving social and welfare services and interpreting various contracts," Lee Yong-ho, chief of the transition team's political, judicial and administrative subcommittee, said during a briefing, Monday.

While this plan has gained substantial support among people who have been calling for a simplified age system, some argue that overturning the centuries-old custom may cause even more confusion.

In a survey conducted among 1,000 adults by Hankook Research last December, seven out of 10 respondents endorsed the change, citing confusion in legislative and administrative procedures.

"The amendment is likely to proceed smoothly as many people have been supporting the global standard to be used as the norm," said Yoon Seong-cheol, a professor of sociology at Hanshin University. "But in order to minimize confusion, the two systems would have to coexist for some period of time."

On the other hand, Jang viewed it premature to legal ban the use of the centuries-old, Korean counting age custom.

"I agree that the government should implement a unified age system for administrative and legal procedures, but it seems premature to restrict the use of the traditional system in all parts of society, as that would affect many parts of daily life," he said.

"The transition committee should engage in further discussions, as not everyone will welcome the changes."

Jang also refuted claims that the use of the traditional age system generated the rigid hierarchical structure of Korean society. "The traditional system of counting one's age has little to do with hierarchy. Rather, age was not considered a barrier to friendships in the past," he said.