AGE IS JUST A NUMBER

South Korea Considers Changing Arcane Baby Age Custom

In South Korea, all babies turn 2 years old on the New Year’s Day after they are born, even if they are born New Year’s Eve.

South Korea is considering changing a peculiar aging system for newborns whereby all babies turn 2 years old the New Year’s Day after their births. The rule even applies to babies born on New Year’s Eve. Now, national legislators are considering scrapping the custom, according to The Guardian. South Koreans usually give two ages when asked how old they are. Their “Korean” age refers to the age they are on New Year’s Day of their birth year, and their “Foreign” age refers to the internationally accepted birth date. “The biggest problem is that the legal age and the age used in everyday lives are different,” parliamentarian Hwang Ju-hong, who has introduced a bill to scrap the Korean age, said. “The international age is used in courts, hospitals and public offices, while the Korean age is used in peoples’ daily lives. The different calculation method causes a lot of confusion and inconvenience.”