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Writer's pictureJudy T

How old are you?

Many of you may have noticed that Korea has updated the way it tracks age as of this summer. Until recently they used a different method than the US whereby you were considered age 1 at birth. It was your first year so that kind of makes sense.


But Korea did something extra on top of that. On January 1st of each year everyone advanced one year. So, if you were born on December 31st you were considered 1 on that day. The very next day; January 1st, you would advance one year and be considered 2. Yes, a 2-day old baby would be considered 2 years old with the Korean method.


I'm guessing that since almost everybody else on Earth did it a different way Korea decided to come in line with the rest of us. So.....many Koreans are 2 years younger today than they were earlier in the year. Wouldn't you like to have an additional 2 years? I would, especially if they were my younger years!


Pat here. I think my husband said it best. When I was turning 60 -a million years ago- I was talking on the phone to a friend and complaining about this momentous upcoming birthday. I said, “Who wants to be 60? I don’t," and from the other room my husband yelled, “I do!" He was 63, and to him it sounded like heaven. I would gladly have two more younger years to enjoy. Even 60 sounds pretty good.


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joonchild (deb)
joonchild (deb)
Sep 29, 2023
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

I've always found the age calculation to be fascinating and one of those intriguing cultural differences. "International age" is used in S. Korea for legal matters (ie passports, military enlistment, government documents) so people are used to both systems and having "two ages". I'm interested if people will continue to use the native system, at least for awhile, or whether it's going to phase out immediately. I find that I feel a bit sad (albeit from my western perspective) that this is going by the wayside, as an erosion of 'korea-ness' and wonder if people there feel the same.

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Judy T
Judy T
Sep 29, 2023
Replying to

I sympathize with your sadness; always a shame when we lose these slight idiosyncrasies between cultures.

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dvankirk0
Sep 27, 2023
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

There's always somebody, or in this case some government, that has to be different.

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