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Korean Age: Why the Same Person Can Have Three Different Ages

Tap through each step to understand why a person's age in Korea could once be counted three different ways, and how that changed.

  1. Traditional counting age vs. international age

    For generations, Korea commonly used a "counting age," where a newborn starts at age 1 and everyone gains a year on New Year's Day regardless of their actual birthday. International age, by contrast, starts at 0 at birth and adds a year only on each birthday β€” the system used in most of the rest of the world.

  2. The 2023 law standardizing international age

    As of June 2023, a legal reform formally standardized age calculation to the international system for laws, contracts, and official documents unless a specific law states otherwise, and it officially encouraged everyday use of international age as well.

  3. "Year age," a third method still used in some rules

    A separate calculation β€” the current year minus the birth year, ignoring the exact birth date β€” is still used in a handful of specific rules, such as certain age thresholds tied to protective regulations, where administrative simplicity matters more than exact birthdate precision.

  4. The etiquette of asking someone's age

    Age carries real social weight in Korean speech and relationships, so directly asking an older person their age can come across as blunt; softer phrasing is generally preferred, and the question is often approached indirectly through birth year instead.

  5. Why the mixed system caused real disputes

    Before the reform, insurance payouts, contract terms, and eligibility for certain benefits sometimes hinged on which age system applied, leading to genuine confusion and disagreements that helped drive the push toward a single standard.

  6. How this compares to age systems elsewhere

    Counting a newborn as already "one" is a pattern shared historically with a few East Asian cultures, while most countries worldwide have long used the birth-date-based international system, which is part of why Korea's traditional approach stood out internationally.

One reform, but old habits linger

Even after the 2023 law, many people, especially older generations, still casually describe their age using habits from counting age, so it is common to hear both systems mentioned in the same conversation, sometimes even by the same person clarifying which one they mean.

A related custom: gaining a year at New Year, not on your birthday

Under the traditional counting-age system, everyone was considered to gain a year together on New Year's Day rather than individually on their birthdays, which is part of why the new year carried extra significance as a shared "birthday" of sorts for the whole population, tied to holiday customs like eating a bowl of rice cake soup.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did the 2023 reform change legal drinking or smoking ages?

No β€” age thresholds tied to certain protective regulations for minors are generally based on the "year age" method rather than international age, and those specific thresholds were not affected by the 2023 standardization.

Does the reform mean people are actually younger now?

No, only the calculation method changed. Someone who used to state their counting age is typically now one to two years "younger" under international age, but their actual birth date, and the time they have been alive, has not changed at all.