Find out why millions of South Koreans will be “younger” in 2024

Millions of South Korean residents will be “younger” in 2024 than in 2023. And the explanation goes back to the month of May, when a change in the country’s calendar changed the age of many people.

The government abolished the system that allowed three different ways of counting the age of inhabitants: international, Korean and calendar-based.

From 1/5/2023 only the international age, the best known in the world, which counts the person’s age for each birthday, came into force.

This age was already used in South Korea for administrative matters.

But, in everyday life, the Korean age was applied, which includes the gestation period, that is, the 9 months in which one is in the mother’s womb. In this system, the person also turns 1 year older every New Year (January 1), regardless of when she was born.

Finally, calendar-based age mixes the two: a person is born at age zero, but, necessarily, turns 1 (full) year every January 1st.

Therefore, depending on the case, the person can have up to three different ages.

This is the case of the president of South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, who was born on 12/18/1960 and, at the time of the change, was 62 years old internationally, 63 according to the calendar and 64 in Korean age.

With the new government decision, only the international age will officially come into force in the country. The president’s birthday was 12/18/2023, but although he was previously 64 years old according to the Korean age, he was now 63 according to the international age!

South Korea is an East Asian country that gained independence from the Empire of Japan in 1919. At the time, it was just Korea, with no regional divisions.

Until 1945, South Korea existed together with North Korea as a single country.

The division was made at the end of World War II, when the United States took the southern part and the Soviets the northern part.

Today, North Korea is ruled by dictator Kim Jong-Un with an iron fist. And people don’t even have access to information about what’s happening outside the country.

South Korea is a presidential republic, with a democratic regime and a high quality of life.

South Korea has a high population density: 490 inhabitants per km², more than 10 times the world average.

The capital Seoul, with its 9.7 million inhabitants, attracts tourists for its beauty, organization, culture and history.

Korea is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. Archaeological researchers say the peninsula has been occupied since the Lower Paleolithic (a period between 2.5 million and 300 thousand years ago)

Seoul hosted the 1986 Asian Games, the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Returning to the calendar, what is valid today, in South Korea, is the calendar that is also valid in Brazil. If a person was born on that day and in that month, he will have his birthday (1 year older) on that day and in that month of the following year. So simple.