In South Korea, the age calculation system was changed: the population “got younger”
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In South Korea, on June 27, a draft law came into force, which changes the system of calculating the age of a person from the traditional one to the international one, in particular, the one used by Ukraine. As a result, people in the country “got younger” by a year or two, Reuters reports. The traditional system of calculating age in South Korea involves taking into account the time a child spends in the mother’s womb, so at birth it is already considered one year old. Also, despite celebrating a birthday, people add a year to their own age at the beginning of a new calendar year. Photo: oliverdelahaye/Depositphotos As a result of the transition to the international system, the country’s residents officially “got younger” by a year or two, because this method of calculation assumes that age is counted from the day a child is born. Since the 1960s, the country has used the international age calculation norm for medical and legal documents. What age existed in Korea? In South Korea, there were not one, but three ways of calculating age – “international”, “Korean” and “calendar”. “Korean” means that a person turns 1 year old at birth, and the next year is added every January 1st. That is, a child born on New Year’s Eve was considered two years old as soon as the clock struck midnight. This system was not used for conscription, alcohol consumption or marriage. In some cases, South Koreans also used “calendar age” – a kind of mixture between international and Korean. According to this method of calculation, the age of babies begins to be counted after birth, but a year is added to the age every January 1. Different methods of calculating age led to confusion and women trying not to give birth in certain months, such as December. Currently, only “international age” should be used in all official documents. Earlier, we talked about why life is just beginning at 40, and people become happier with age. Read also: How long can people really live?
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