{"id":2199719,"date":"2022-12-15T09:15:55","date_gmt":"2022-12-15T09:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/koreapro\/?p=2199719"},"modified":"2023-11-20T19:03:43","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T10:03:43","slug":"south-korea-scraps-traditional-age-system-as-society-becomes-more-international","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/12\/south-korea-scraps-traditional-age-system-as-society-becomes-more-international\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea scraps traditional age system as society becomes more international"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Korea is changing the unique way it counts a person\u2019s age to the international standard. <\/span>But while the move looks set to simplify bureaucratic processes and reduce confusion as South Korea becomes a more international society, the country\u2019s traditional hierarchical culture means that \u201cKorean age\u201d might not completely disappear.<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently, South Korea uses three systems to calculate people\u2019s age. The most common system, known as \u201cKorean age,\u201d counts babies as a year old on the day they are born. Then everybody becomes a year older on New Year\u2019s Day. So, a baby born on Dec. 31 would be considered two years old on Jan. 1, despite being out of the womb for less than 24 hours.<\/span><\/p>\n

The second system is almost the same as the first, except babies\u2019 age start at zero when they are born. South Korea applies this method for <\/span>military conscription<\/span><\/a> \u2014 all able-bodied men have to serve around two years \u2014 and defining juveniles for the Youth Protection Act.<\/span><\/p>\n

The final system is the internationally recognized system, which South Korea adopted in 1962 and currently uses for official records and the civil code.<\/span><\/p>\n

President Yoon Suk-yeol pledged to simplify the age systems and adopt the international one when running for office to <\/span>address<\/span><\/a> this complexity. Last week, the National Assembly <\/span>passed legislation<\/span><\/a> supporting this, so from June 2023, all judicial and administrative areas will be required only to use the internationally recognized age system.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aside from helping out perplexed foreigners, scrapping \u201cKorean age\u201d will avoid uncertainty and potentially harmful situations in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, the South Korean government\u2019s <\/span>announcement<\/span><\/a> that children 12 to 18 in Korean age would have to present proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative PCR test to enter public facilities from March 2022 onwards caused confusion. That was because eligibility to get a vaccine \u2014 12 years old and above \u2014 was <\/span>based on international age<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a result, some children subject to the vaccine mandate weren\u2019t able to get vaccinated. The government later resolved the situation by exempting these children from the vaccine pass.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKorean age\u201d also sparked a dispute over a South Korean company\u2019s age-based pay brackets since the company\u2019s collective bargaining agreement didn\u2019t specify which age system it was going by. In March, the Supreme Court <\/span>ruled<\/span><\/a> that the international age system applied.<\/span><\/p>\n

OLD HABITS DIE HARD<\/b><\/p>\n

Despite the new legislation, the fundamental principles of \u201cKorean age\u201d might stick around for a while in everyday life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Age is a crucial qualifier that helps to dictate status in Korean society. It shapes social hierarchy and determines whether or not you need to use honorifics to address someone.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

An elderly South Korean man wearing a traditional hanbok, Date unknown | Image: Pixabay<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

However, this hierarchy is established based on your birth year, not actually how old you are per se.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say Person A and Person B were born in January and July 1990, respectively. Despite the six-month age gap, they were born in the same year and are considered equals.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKorean age\u201d is a good match in this instance because it reflects the social relationship that should exist between Person A and Person B for the rest of their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

The international system doesn\u2019t quite work in this context because Person A is considered older than Person B for six months and then the same age for the rest of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are many possible alternatives, but tradition and simplicity suggest that categorizing people based on their birth year works best in the South Korean context, at least for now.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026BUT THEY DO DIE, EVENTUALLY<\/b><\/p>\n

There will likely be a transition period from June next year when people organically decide how they will refer to their age in everyday life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps people will answer the question, \u201cHow old are you\u201d by stating the year they were born rather than their age according to international standards. Koreans already often do this, and continuing to do so will allow society to move past \u201cKorean age\u201d while also maintaining how they determine their birth year-based social hierarchy.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the overwhelming support to get rid of \u201cKorean age\u201d suggests that many are keen to move on.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to a <\/span>government survey<\/span><\/a> in September, 81.6% of respondents agreed with the move to scrap it, and 86.2% said they would use the international standard in their everyday lives in lieu of \u201cKorean age.\u201d And one of the main reasons respondents said they supported using international age is because it would help erode South Korea\u2019s traditional insistence on hierarchy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whatever happens, many believe the government\u2019s move to abandon \u201cKorean age\u201d is the right decision. But age is so deeply ingrained in the culture and even the language itself that the year you were born might continue to play an important role for a while to come.<\/span><\/p>\n

Edited by John Lee<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Culture & Society<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Korea is changing the unique way it counts a person\u2019s age to the international standard. But while the move looks set to simplify bureaucratic processes and reduce confusion as South Korea becomes a more international society, the country\u2019s traditional hierarchical culture means that \u201cKorean age\u201d might not completely disappear. Currently, South Korea uses three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5769,"featured_media":2199723,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-2199719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","tag-culture-society"],"yoast_head":"\nSouth Korea scraps traditional age system as society becomes more international - KOREA PRO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/12\/south-korea-scraps-traditional-age-system-as-society-becomes-more-international\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Korea scraps traditional age system as society becomes more international - KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South Korea is changing the unique way it counts a person\u2019s age to the international standard. But while the move looks set to simplify bureaucratic processes and reduce confusion as South Korea becomes a more international society, the country\u2019s traditional hierarchical culture means that \u201cKorean age\u201d might not completely disappear. 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