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| Minister of Government Legislation Lee Wan-kyu speaks during a media briefing at the Government Complex in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap |
All Koreans to become one or even two years younger under int'l system
By Jun Ji-hye
Korea will scrap its traditional method of counting a person's age and officially adopt the internationally recognized system beginning this Wednesday, the Ministry of Government Legislation announced Monday.
The change comes as the revisions to the Basic Administrative Act and the Civil Act, which were passed by the National Assembly last December to scrap the country's increasingly unpopular custom, are set to take effect that day.
This will make all Koreans one or even two years younger, as under the Korean traditional age system, a person is deemed to be a year old at the time of birth and then gains a year every Jan. 1.
The international standard calculates a person's age from zero at birth and a year is added on every individual's birthday.
For example, as of June 26, a person born on June 30 of 2003 is 19 and turns 20 on June 30 this year under the international system. But under the Korean age system, he or she is already 21.
Another example showing the complications of the Korean system is a baby born on Dec. 31 who becomes two years old right after midnight.
This unusual transition has invited criticism from many that the country has been lagging behind the times. In addition, the absence of specific rules regarding the calculation of age has led to the use of both the Korean age system and international standard, causing unnecessary confusion.
"The revisions are meaningful in that the use of the international age system now becomes a clear rule," Minister of Government Legislation Lee Wan-kyu said during a media briefing. "This was one of the major campaign promises pursued by President Yoon Suk Yeol to reduce social and administrative confusion."
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| gettyimagesbank |
Under the revisions, ages will be calculated in the same way as the rest of the world in most administrative and civil matters. All ages written in laws, contracts and other official papers will be based on the international system.
This is expected to considerably reduce legal conflicts and confusion stemming from the different interpretation of age, the ministry said, citing a legal dispute over a peak wage system that began in 2014 and continued until March last year.
That dispute involved the starting period of an employee's peak wage as stated in his labor contract. The peak wage system gradually cuts the salaries of senior workers several years before retirement. There was a disagreement over implementing the peak wage according to the international age system or the Korean age system.
"Uniformly using the international age system will reduce unnecessary social disputes resulting from the mixed use of age systems," the minister said.
"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."
Still, the old formula that calculates age based on the year of birth ― and does not take into account the day or month a person was born ― will remain in place on some occasions, including when entering elementary schools and buying alcohol or tobacco.
Currently, children enter elementary schools from March 1 of the year after they turn 6 in the international age system, regardless of their birthday. This system will continue.
For the purchase of age-restricted products, such as alcohol and tobacco, only the year of birth will continue to be taken into consideration as well.
In Korea, people can buy alcohol and tobacco from Jan. 1 of the year in which they are set to turn 19 in the international system. This year, those born in 2004 or earlier can buy such products regardless of their birthday.
Similarly, this method will remain in place for the mandatory military conscription ― those born in 2004 are eligible for service this year.
"The government decided to contain such exceptions even after the revisions go into effect, as it is easier to manage such issues on a yearly basis," the minister said.
