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SOUTH Koreans were up to two years younger when they woke up today after a baffling age rule was scrapped.
The traditional “Korean age” counts babies as one year old on the day they are born, and adds on another year each January 1.
Bizarrely, it meant a baby born on New Year’s Eve would already be classed as two years old when the clock strikes midnight.
To add to the confusion, officials also use “calendar age” in various contexts, from school admissions to military service and the legal age for buying alcohol.
This starts from zero at birth and rises on January 1 each year, regardless of people’s actual birthday.
Now ministers are trying to bring the country in line with the rest of the world, using real age calculated from date of birth.
Revisions to the Basic Administrative Act and Civil Act, which were passed in December, come into effect from this morning.
All South Koreans had either one or two years cut from their age overnight, depending on their birthday.
Gangnam Style sensation Psy highlights the baffling rules that have existed for generations.
He was born on December 31, 1977 – and was aged two just a day later.
Today he is 45 – but his “calendar age” is 46 and his “Korean age” is 47.
Many have expressed their joy at being able to reverse their age and are viewing it as an opportunity to relive their “lost” years.
Choi Hyun-ji, a 27-year-old office worker in Seoul, told AFP: “I was about to turn 30 next year, but now I have some more time earned and I love it. It’s just great to feel like getting younger.”
Housewife Lee Jung-hee also told of her excitement at being able to dodge her 60th birthday which she was due to celebrate next year.
She gushed: “It feels good. For people like me, who were supposed to turn 60 next year, it makes you feel like you’re still young.”
Schoolboy Yoon Jae-ha added that he was thrilled that his “age had shrunk.”
“I like being younger because then my mum will take care of me longer,” he said.
The new rules will apply to laws, contracts and official documents – although some sectors will continue to use the traditional method.
The international age system will not be adopted for Korea’s mandatory military conscription, starting school and buying alcohol or tobacco.
Officials said it was simpler to keep using year of birth, even though people are treated the same whether born in January or December.
Korea’s perplexing aging protocol had come under fire in recent years due to its vagueness and its clash with global customs.
It has even opened the floodgates for legal disputes, as some people have claimed they lost out on cash while retiring prematurely.
Employees’ salaries are gradually reduced as they near their senior years under Korea’s peak wage system.
“We expect legal disputes, complaints and social confusion that have been caused over how to calculate ages will be greatly reduced,” Minister of Government Legislation Lee Wan-kyu said during a briefing on Monday.
Others complained the uncertainty could have had perilous consequences during the pandemic, when some vaccines had age restrictions.
It left many residents unsure of what was deemed safe for them to take.
South Korean medical and legal documents have followed the international norm for calculating age since the early 1960s.
But many people have continued to abide by the traditional method when measuring maturity throughout everyday life.
Most citizens are simply accustomed to living with two different ages.
The nation’s reputation has suffered as a result, as the system is regarded as outdated and problematic.
President Yoon Suk Yeol has previously criticised the system as being a drain on resources.
Lee Wan-kyu said of the rule change: “The revisions are meaningful in that the use of the international age system now becomes a clear rule.
“This was one of the major campaign promises pursued by President Yoon Suk Yeol to reduce social and administrative confusion.’
“Uniformly using the international age system will reduce unnecessary social disputes resulting from the mixed use of age systems.
“The ministry will closely cooperate with relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety as well as local governments, to enhance education and promotional activities in order to establish a culture of using the international age system in people’s daily lives at the earliest possible date.”
He explained that any exceptions to the rule will remain in place because it is “easier to manage.”
China, Japan, and even North Korea dropped the traditional system decades ago, but it continued to be used in South Korea until now.
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