Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Why Koreans could soon become a year younger
How old are you? The simple and universal answer to this question is the number of birthdays the person has had after their birth. So, until the first birthday, the person (baby) is considered zero years old. However, in South Korea, the answer could be zero, one, or two because there are three different ways to speak of one’s age. For most legal definitions and administrative processes, a person’s age is counted in accordance with the international counting system. If a baby is born on December 30, the baby is still zero on his or her first New Year’s Day. There is another official way to count age, which starts at zero and adds one on every January 1. In this way, a baby who is born on December 30 becomes one year old just in two days. Then, there is a more widely used method, which gives one upon birth and adds a year on every January 1. Under this method, any baby becomes two years old on his or her first New Year’s Day. Since it is confusing to have different age counting methods when it comes to eligibility for driver’s licenses, vaccination, and pension, the new administration is considering standardizing the way age is counted. Will Koreans become younger soon?
Enjoy reading the article and learning about how age is counted in Korea.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-61117434
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