The curious case of Korean age (and why it makes no sense)
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009Korean age.
I love this topic. It’s fitting too, because a few days ago everyone just got a year older. Plus that Brad Pitt movie made me think about crazy age systems.
But before I get into this, I’ll have to apologize for beating a dead horse. This topic has been covered in countless blogs, forums, and usually tops a beginner’s guide to Korean culture. Of course, the good people here at KC101 covered this topic in Culture Class #4. So, why is it so hard to understand sometimes? And more importantly why break the mold? Why does Korea differ in how age is recorded?
First off, I’d like to volunteer a piece of something personal. I am discalculic. I don’t get along with numbers. So, even the “normal” western system provides plenty of confusion for me. I genuinely struggle with some math concepts - age included. So, I am certainly not poking fun at anyone who struggles with this system because I most definitely do.
Having established that, when you add new rules to the already confusing game of life, it makes me sad inside. But, let me try to rationalize this system - not for you, dear readers, but for me.
- In Korea, you are born one (1) years of age. Call it a really long pregnancy
- In Korea, you increase your age count on January 1st of every year, not on your birthday
- In Korea, your chronological age is factored in for horoscopes and astrology, not for age counting
- In Korea, you make Matthew frustrated
I like to think of it like Diablo II or World of Warcraft - you’re still you, just +2 dexterity, +1 agility, or in this case, +1/2 years of age. So you are still born in the same day, month, year as you always have been but now you must gauge the situation and pull out your Age of Revivification Circlet +15% or Mithryl Gloves of Leech (depending on whether you want the added age or not). You, but better!
Allow me to demonstrate:
It throws me for a loop every now and then when I talk to parents of small children. When I ask them how old their child is, they always catch me by surprise with the age. They tell me an age that seems a little over the typical developmental level of an young child (think: the terrible twos fours) “Shouldn’t he have been already crawling for a year or two by now? Why is it such a big deal that a three year old is learning to talk?”
Either way, it’s a system that works in my favor for the time being. I was born in September of 1983 so I soak up the extra two years added for nine months out of the year. I dig it now, but that might change if I’m still unmarried in my forties. I might want to change back to the non-Korean system then. Or find a new pickup line. Either way.
So to sum up, I don’t know why Koreans do the funky chicken when it comes to recording age. What I do know is that age plays an important role in initiating and maintaining friendships. Social age is likely more important that chronological age in Korea, so I can appreciate the idea of everyone “aging” all at the same time. And truth be told, I do like to hear that even some Koreans find their system daunting. Solution? Ask what year you were born and just gauge from there. If the person responds in the same year, you guys are 동갑. Call it a day - the year is the most important. Even I can grasp that 
그럼, 몇년생이세요?
Thoughts?
Posted by Matthew in How Koreans Do It |
January 6th, 2009 at 5:54 am
When I was in Korea and ppl asked me how old I was (often strangers) I forgot about the Korean system and told them my chronological age (which of course is lower than my Korean age). Even THEN they told me I look young for my age…
I was involved in a chat w/ one of the taxi drivers. He said “You’re not 26! If you were born in 1982 you’re 27!”. I told him that in Germany I’m 26. He was amazed. “So when I go to Germany I’m one year younger? Wow, that’s great! I should go to Germany”.
I just turned 28 on January 1st according to Korean age… *sigh* I have never aged so fast
.
It must be hard for ppl who were born on December 31st.
January 6th, 2009 at 10:26 am
So us 1983ers are 27 now, right? I always get so confused by the age thing too T_T
January 6th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
it is confusing, and it gets even more confusing when you consider that people born in the beginning of the year would have gone to school with the people born the year before them, so they would call their age by the year before they were born. like, if you were born in january of 84, you would have gone to school and been 동갑 with the 83ers, so you would be a 빨은 83년생, so you would be 3 years older for almost a month. crazy.
does that still apply once you are done with school? or do you go back to being a 84년생?
January 6th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Honestly, the Korean age system makes no sense to me too… I wonder what Koreans themselves think.
January 6th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
There’s a strange counting system in China too. I think it’s similar to the Korean.
The problem is that we confuse the korean/chinese word 岁/살 with the English “years old”. The English is unambiguous; it imples “years” since “years” is the first word! 岁/살 doesn’t include the word for “year” so doesn’t imply that after a year we are “one”. We translate 岁/살 as “years old” because we don’t have any alternative in English. Sometimes in Chinese they use 周年 to indicate age in years; literally it means “complete years”. That would be 주년 in Korean, but I am not sure if it actually makes sense. In any case, notice the second syllable is the hanja for “years”!
I have taught Chinese kids English for quite a long time, and the simple question “How old are you?” often trips them up. They know what it MEANS but don’t know the to answer. Often they’ll just answer with the year they were born, or get out a calculator to work out how many 周年/주년 old they are.
Once, after asking “How old are you?” I had a kid get out of his chair, run next door and holler at his mum in Chinese, “Hey mum! How old am I?” Something that was such a big part of one’s identity when I was growing up, and he didn’t even know the answer for sure himself.
January 7th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Most legal requirement such as buying beer, renting a car, and entering 성인 places are based on “만” or “full age” which is synonymous to our system. Culturally, however, the other system works in daily life, but our system still is in effect for official purposes. You can distinguish between the two by saying “한국나이로” or “만으로”
January 7th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Great insight, Max.
I’m not sure I could explain this properly in my poor English though,
let me give it a try.
Koreans count one’s age by the number of “the” years the one lives.
For example, if a baby was born in 2008 then they consider the baby had lived in the year of 2008. Because the baby was there in 2008 even though he/she didn’t live the whole 2008. As he/she lives “the” year and he/she would be considered as “lived in(살았다)” that year. Did he/she exist on “the” year? If yes, he/she “lived” the very 1 year. That is the concept.
I think this concept was from the agricultural background considering one-year-term very important. Korean age system is more on the side of social perspective while western age system is more personal.
January 13th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Ah, the funky chicken… 제가 좋아하는 춤들에서 가장 좋아하는 거예요. ㅎㅎ
And I don’t think it’s beating a dead horse… it really is hard for foreigners (or at least me) to grasp. Why, KClass’ very own 선현우 was born near the end of December, so we can ask him what it means to be “two years old” after living for a mere few days…
January 21st, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Oh, this info makes my day. LOL. I just went from being 56 to being 58. But, on the bright side, “keep those senior discounts comming”.
January 24th, 2009 at 8:48 am
The age is a bit confusing at first, but not all that complex mathematically
Just wanted to comment that the photo of the two singing kids and the accompanying tag-lines were hilarious!
January 27th, 2009 at 5:35 am
[…] You might be wondering why this new year is not on the same day as our traditional new years party in the West. Because just like all other complicated math concepts in Korea, this holiday is based on the lunar calendar and not the solar calendar. The solar calendar is what we receive in the mail for free from the ASPCA and the like. The lunar calendar is what changes from year to year. Here’s a 2009 list of solar and lunar holidays in Korea. […]
February 15th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
@Max:
Yes,I’ve been teaching Chinese kids for a while,and when I explained to them that age is reckoned from your birthday,when you’re zero,and you age one year every birthday after that,they were so confused.I’m fairly sure only half of them understood it,if any!
I’m actually finding it a bit strange that people are suggesting Koreans might find the system confusing.You learn whatever you grow up with,and then it’s natural.It’s only because we’re learning these things after getting used to another system that we’re confused and think it doesn’t “make sense”.
But coming to China almost 3 years ago,it was kind of strange to go from 18 to 23 so fast.Occasionally I have to think to remember my international age(21).
March 30th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
so im 18 in korean age system because i was born jan 14, 1993 and i’m 17 in american age system but in korean age system since it passed my day of birth they add an additional year so i’m technically 18 right?