South Koreans are about to get a year younger?
Did you know that South Korea counts newborns as a year old?
It's weird to think about, but when a child is born they are actually 0 years old.
The reality is that they are and we don't actually pay tribute to acknowledging them as such.
We just consider them to be newborn.
But not in South Korea.
"South Koreans are deemed to be a year old when they are born, and a year is added every 1 January." (Instagram)
Essentially, this means that they are older than they are in their country than to the rest of the world. Which is super crazy.
"South Korean lawmakers approved a measure that would revise the way the country tallies a person’s age, ending a system that counted newborns as a year old and meaning that most of its citizens are about to get younger." (Japan Times)
This Korean standard of counting age adds not just one but sometimes two years to a person's age.
That in itself just sounds horrendous to us, especially because we are used to people subtracting from their age.
Truth be told, age can be a touchy subject, so we are glad that the bill passed by the National Assembly on Thursday last week would be scrapping their traditional way of counting people's ages.
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However, the motivation behind the bill which will take effect in June next year is to "prevent confusion in processing administrative and medical services. The move would also prevent legal disputes surrounding the age system on signed contracts and make it easier for citizens who often have one age at home and another age as recognized by global standards." (Japan Times)
All in all, a big win for the people of South Korea.
Image Courtesy of Pexels