South Korea / South Koreans To Become Younger In 2023 As Traditional Age System Scrapped

South Korea : A newborn born all over the world is considered to be one year old only after 365 days, but South Korea is a country where the newborn becomes one year old as soon as it comes out of the mother's womb. Don't think that here nature has created such a game which is responsible for aging as soon as it is born. Actually, this is the tradition of this country, which increases the age by one year as soon as one is born.

This age system has now been abolished. The year 2023 June will be the historic month of ending this system forever. From this month, the newborns born here will not be considered as one year old, nor will their age be increased by one year on every January 1. At least from this month on the official paperwork the South Korean population will be ready to be 1 or 2 years younger. The so-called "Korean age" system will no longer be approved on official documents from June 2023.

Historical decision of the Parliament of South Korea

Thursday 8 December became historic for the people of South Korea. On this day, the South Korean parliament passed a law to abolish the two traditional methods of counting Korea's age. From June 2023, only a standardized, internationally recognized method of determining age on official documents will be implemented here.

In fact, the government here had promised during a campaign that it would end the confusing traditional age system in the country. The government promised to implement the system used to measure age in the rest of the world. Did it too. On December 8, the South Korean government has fulfilled this promise.

domestic criticism

This traditional age system has also faced criticism from politicians. They believe that South Korea, which is a big Asian economy, global technological and cultural power, is seen behind the times because of this tradition. Here President Yoon Suk-yeol has criticized the adoption of several methods for calculating age.

They say that due to this the country has to bear the loss of resources. Yoo Sang-bum of the country's ruling People Power party told parliament, "The aim of the amendment is to reduce unnecessary socio-economic costs, as multiple methods of age calculation cause legal and social controversy as well as confusion." also remains."

What is the traditional age system?

At present, the "Korean Age System" is the most widely used to calculate age in Korea. Under this, a child is one year old at the time of birth and then on the first day of every new year one more year is added to his age. In another method, the age is calculated by taking his age at birth as zero and one year is added on 1st January.

In Korea, this method is mainly used to calculate the legal drinking and smoking age. An unusual and increasingly unpopular custom in this country means that a child born on New Year's Eve becomes two years old as soon as the clock strikes midnight.

On the other hand, this country also uses the globally recognized age calculation system. In this age is calculated from the birthday of a person and the first birthday is celebrated 365 days after birth. Comparing the South Korean traditional age system and the international age measurement system, every South Korean born in South Korea is 1 to 2 years older than a person born in the world.

  For example, as of 8 December 2022, a person born on 31 December 2002 will be 19 years old under the international system and 20 under the South Korean counting system and 21 under the traditional age system. Yoo Sang-bum told parliament that "the purpose of the amendment is to reduce unnecessary socio-economic costs, as the multiple methods of age calculation cause legal and social controversy as well as confusion."