South Korea’s National Assembly has approved a series of reforms to impose the use of the international age calculation system and abandon its single formula, especially in administrative and judicial areas, which will make the population one to two years younger.
The amendments to the Civil Act and the General Public Administration Act, which will come into force next June, will unify the multiple systems for counting the age of the population in the Asian country, where an international system based on date of birth will be established.
There are currently three different systems for counting age. The most common is the so-called ‘Korean age’, which establishes that a person turns one year old on the day they are born and two years old on the first day of the New Year.
The second system is the internationally recognized one, which links the birthday to the date of birth, while the third formula states that each New Year the population adds one year of life.
Critics have pointed out that this difference in systems may cause confusion in providing medical, administrative and welfare services to the population, and could lead to unnecessary costs, according to Yonhap news agency. President Yoon Suk Yeol had pledged to unify the system during his election campaign.
