New Law Makes South Koreans A Year Younger
Huff PostSEOUL, South Korea — As South Korea campaigns to retire an old and odd age-counting method that makes people a year or two older than they really are, children are among the few who seem most eager to stick with the past. But officials in South Korea’s Ministry of Government Legislation acknowledge the new law won’t meaningfully change how the country’s public services are done, as most are already based on international ages. “With everybody now going with international age, the changed ages feel awkward.” While the new law states that a person’s age must be counted by the passing of birthdays for most public services, it does not affect other age-related regulations that are based on yearly rules. The new law doesn’t affect when South Korean males become eligible to serve their mandatory military duty, which is from Jan. 1 of the year they turn 18 in international age. Lee Wan-kyu, the government legislation minister, said the new law is mostly aimed at reducing confusion in daily life and inspiring a change in “social perception” toward a more rational way of counting ages.
History of this topic
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