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SEOUL – South Koreans are expected to be a year or two younger after the country’s parliament on Thursday passed legislation to scrap the traditional method of age calculation.
This traditional method, which will be replaced in June 2023 by the system used elsewhere in the world, declares people a year at birth and adds a year to their age every January 1 – even if they were born the day before became.
The change was a campaign promise by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who cited the social and administrative costs the traditional method would incur when contrasted with the international system.
The term “Korean age”, determined by the year of birth rather than the exact date of birth, is still widely used in social situations in the country.
Since the 1960s, the Asian nation has also counted the official ages of its citizens based on the international system where babies start at age zero and years are added at each birthday.
However, certain laws use a separate method of calculating age based on the year of birth, regardless of the month. The so-called “age of the year” applies when determining the age for compulsory military service or school grades.
The jumble of three different age counting methods often left South Koreans confused as to how old they were depending on the circumstances they were in.
Official documents will be sent using the international method from the middle of next year.
Presidential spokesman Lee Jae-myung said the simplified retirement system “follows the global standard and puts an end to unnecessary social and economic confusion.” The change is expected to address both national and international communication issues caused by different age counting methods.
The current setup also caused some awkward misunderstandings in South Korea’s Confucian-influenced culture, where the age difference affects how people interact.
The traditional method of counting ages was once used throughout East Asia, but other countries such as China and Japan turned to the international system decades ago. Experts say the method has been retained in South Korea because of its hierarchy culture.
“People finding their age a year or two younger will also have a positive social impact,” said Lee Wan-kyu, South Korea’s Minister of Government Legislation. He said the government will extensively promote the New Age system to help it become established in citizens’ everyday lives.
“Not only administrative measures, but also social efforts to break the hierarchical culture” are needed to integrate change, Kim Jung-kwon, a law professor at Seoul’s Chungang University, told a government panel on the issue last month .