Korea has its own age system, where a person is considered one year old at birth and gains a year during the New Year. They called it the Korean age (한국나이) while the international age was known as 만나이. Although the global standard age was applied to medical and legal documents since the 1960s, other official forms continuously used the traditional method.
There are several reasons for why they have a different age system than the western world. In the Confucian culture, a person is considered to be one year old at birth because the time spent in the womb is seen as part of their life, beginning their first year of life at birth. The system also emphasizes community and harmony over individuality because they are able to group individuals of the same age together, creating a sense of social unity. This explains why sometimes in Korea, they ask you what year you are born in rather than your age itself. This age system also explains the impact that confucianism has had on Korean culture, as there is a strong emphasis on respecting those who are older. There are a lot of different Korean words on how to call someone who is older than you, and you generally have to follow that “rule” in order to not seem rude.
The age system made things easier to determine when Korean men should enlist for their conscription requirement, calculating the legal age to drink alcohol and smoke, and school entrance. Everything culturally was matched to this traditional age system, as they were able to drink and smoke after their high school graduation, a passage rite that Korean teens go through turning 20 years old and starting a new chapter in their lives. The new school year would then start in March, after gaining a year during the Korean New Year. However, in December 2022, talks of South Korea passing laws to scrap the traditional method began. In June 2023, South Korea implemented a new law that took effect, replacing the country’s traditional method and requiring only using the international method of counting age. Since this would affect the school entrance, conscription, and etc. a new system will exist where a person’s age is calculated from zero at birth and a year is added on Jan. 1. They decided to keep it this way because it is easier to manage these on a yearly basis than by birthdays. They decided to change the system because it has confused and inconvenienced South Koreans in different situations such as health recommendations, labor disputes, and social hierarchy. The government wants to minimize unnecessary confusion and conflicts related to age and establish social practices that conform to the international standards. Because the change is still relatively new, Koreans tend to use both. When you ask for someone’s age, they will say their 만나이 (international age) is 22 but their 한국나이 is 24. It would definitely take some time for South Koreans to adjust to this new change especially in informal and social settings.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/28/world/asia/south-korea-age.html
Comments
The Korean age system always confuses me and your post has explained a lot about it! The Chinese culture has a similar age system different from the "international age" which we called it "虚岁". It is one year greater than the international age. Similar to the Korean age, the Chinese age accounts for the time spent in the womb and in the lunar calendar. So one might be 2 years older than the international age or 1 year older.