The interesting ways Korea counts age!

[theemii.livejournal.com]

Article: "They were born on the same day at the same time..." but one is two years old, one is zero years old?

Source: Money Today via Naver

Article is a summary of the confusing way age is counted in Korea and the way it divides who is higher or lower status when it comes to relationships.

The first concept is 'early year', where if you're born in an earlier month of the year, like February 1989, you'd be considered to be in the same age group as 1988ers and technically older than anyone born in the later months of the same year as you. This especially affects what year students are placed in and who becomes your senior/junior. Someone the same age as you could still be your senior or junior depending on 'early year'.

The second concept is counting the year you were in the womb and automatically being one when you're born. A child born on December 31st in Korea would become two years in old on January 1st because they were one when they were born and the new year counts as an entire year even though his birthday hasn't passed yet.

The system is being criticized lately because younger and younger people are using it as a way to establish power over their peers, even counting down to the differences in months. .

1. [+4,797, -372] I really don't understand why we have the 'early year' concept, someone please explain ㅋㅋㅋ

2. [+3,979, -195] The product of a Confucianism culture where people believe being older equals power

3. [+3,284, -114] I'm one of those 'early years' but once you actually work in society, none of that matters

4. [+2,769, -145] I really don't get why we have 'early years'

5. [+510, -32] I don't know why we can't just determine age by the year we were born in

6. [+365, -32] 'Early years' are in a tough spot because you don't know whether to speak formally or informally to your peers...

7. [+331, -10] This age concept makes it so hard to make friends... Foreigners just treat everyone on one level as equal friends but Koreans have to treat hyungs differently, friends differently, just too much to consider.

8. [+337, -15] The concept is so messed up. Someone born in December 2014 has to be the hyung to someone born in March 2015 when they're only 3 months apart but someone born in March 2015 and someone born in December 2015 are considered 'friends/same age' when they're 9 months apart.

9. [+216, -11] The 'early years' really messes me up... Since my juniors are technically the same age as me but they're still my juniors... it's just a messy situation.


10. [+198, -15] Yeah, I never know whether to call someone born in the same year as me but considered an 'early year' hyung or not...

Source: Netizenbuzz

Comments

[jjang-intae.livejournal.com]

I'm still confused about the age system even after the whole explanation. Why does it even exist when their own people are confused by it?

[vermicelli-rice.livejournal.com]

It would make 'some' sense if they consider the people born in the same zodiac year as chingus, but the way they do it is "early" 19XX-ers vs the rest who are born later, which seems pretty arbitrary. But yeah, the counting system is so complicated I can't wrap my head around it.

[luvey.livejournal.com]

maybe it is the flu and my nyquil-ed brain...but i read that and i'm still confused. guess it is just not for me to understand.

[lightframes.livejournal.com]

Take a nap and I hope you feel better.

[allisnotlost.livejournal.com]

lawd. this is really confusing. my friends have explained that they count the 9 months in the womb as one year.

im like, yo youre 3 months short tho! :X

[spainawards2008.livejournal.com]

Not to mention the fact hardly anyone is in the womb for exactly 9 months. Plenty of people are born up to a couple of weeks late or a few weeks/months early.

[gardevoiir.livejournal.com]

... yeah I read this like twice and I'm still not getting it I'm not even gonna try at this point

[anconeous.livejournal.com]

DBSK helped me understand this years ago. LOL. Early 86ers Jaejoong and Yunho are considered same age as 85ers. Thus, 86ers like Junsu and Yoochun call them "hyung." Done!

Then Onew helped me understand the age thing. He's born December 89. Internationally, he's only 24, but his Korean age all throughout this year is 26 because he's turning 25 in December. :)

[hitsujiga.livejournal.com]

i get the early age thing but i still dunno how onew can be 26? >.<; giving him a year+ on new year when he didn't even turn 25 yet? jkfgjkdfhgjkf NOPE /noping out of this

[cairistiona.livejournal.com]

The concept of a kid being born in December and the other in March being different ages isn't too different from Western culture, though?

I was born in September, so I was always one of the oldest in my year at school. I would consider people born in the same year as me my friends because same year and the people born the year after friends because we were in classes together. But my parents always considered the people born in the same year as older than me because we were in separate years at school, even though in one case we were born less than 20 days apart from each other. She was still older than me because she was in the year above.
However, since I got into K-Pop, my brain's done this thing where even though we're friends, I consider myself older than everyone born after me. I would be everyone's noona. I joked that one of my 1990-er friends at uni should call me Noona even though we're only 7 months apart in age.

We're lucky that we don't have to use honorifics and formal speech, though. It's much easier for us to talk to others around about the same age.

On a separate issue, I find it particularly weird that someone born on Dec 31 and someone on Jan 1 would be different ages in Korea, and also February 28 and March 1 would be different ages. But that comes back to August 31 and September 1 being different ages, the way it is here. I was in school with an August 31 baby who found it hard and in the end she retook on of her secondary school years and became the eldest in the year below.

That leads me into another issue; if you're in a different year from the one you should be in, how do you refer to your peers and to those born in the same year as you? For example, EXO's Suho was in the year above at school, and I had a student in China in the year above.
In Suho's case, SHINee's Minho used to call him "Hyung" in his thanks-tos, even though they're both born in 1991. It seemed weird to me, even though Minho may just have been being affectionate, like how Ryeowook calls himself Hyung to Kyuhyun. It's just an interesting thing to think about.

Well I wrote an essay. Oops, sorry about that.

[gabbeeee.livejournal.com]

Suho was put one school year ahead of his peers which is why Lay whose also born in 1991 calls him hyung

[lysblack.livejournal.com]

it will never not be confusing.

i mean i get it, but at the same time not really, and i still get confused by it.

[krissasaur]

I love that Koreans don't even know whats going on.

[atopworld.livejournal.com]

This. It makes me happy. I mean if your own people are like...wait I don't get it, maybe they should just change it?

Personally, I would have major issues with being called noona by a dude I think is hot and we're only 9 months apart...lol. Or being considered 2 years older than I actually am.

[shineebambi.livejournal.com]

right that i kinda get but ill never get the whole add a year if your born in the end of the year for reasons like i can never figure out do i add two years to my age or one year to my age like JUST SOMEONE FIGUTE IT OUT FOR ME

[hearttaek.livejournal.com]

I got over trying to make sense of this whole system years ago. I doesnt affect me so whatever.
Just here to ask, "I wonder how suho gets away with being friends with 90ers and demand not being friends with 91ers."

[porcupinegloves.livejournal.com]

i'm curious too, but ppl born in may aren't considered a early years, are they?
i've heard he was a year earlier in school, so he was classmates with 90 line, but idk

[jaeslurpy.livejournal.com]

lol at koreans being confused too. idk why they just don't follow the rest of the world when it comes to ages. it would make it alot easier for everyone.

[kjc48.livejournal.com]

I'm born in December and my mind was kind blown when I release in korea I would only get to be 19 for a month, while I would be 20 for 11 months, all while knowing that I'm only 18 (for 12 entire months).

Maybe a little ot: I always wonder if the viewer ratings (i.e 15+, 19+) are going by western or korean age... does anyone know???

[4minutesluts.livejournal.com]

i assume there's one 'legal' age that's used to count everything like drinking age, drivers licence etc, but idk which one it is

[x3raindropsx3.livejournal.com]

I get it mostly. I'm two days apart from Onew's birthday and it trips me out when he said he was 26 last year. After Chinese New Year we'll both be 27 when in reality we're 24. I'm not about being 3 years older damn.

[hitsujiga.livejournal.com]

after chinese new year onew gets older by another year?!!!! no pls no..i don't get this shit T_T i give up.

[sra-interesante.livejournal.com]

interesting but confusing as hell
(or maybe I'm too dumb to get it lol)

[consequences.livejournal.com]

SOMEONE FINALLY EXPLAINED IT

[hitsujiga.livejournal.com]

i thought i got it..but apparently i don't...

so onew is aging by 3 years in the span of a year...good, okay...korea..this is..NOPE. i'm out.

[gray-fairy.livejournal.com]

3 years tho? He's 26 in Korean age and that's 2 years older, not 3 lol. Still shitty tho. I would hate being aged up like that tbh.

[charlotterhys.livejournal.com]

School year! It all has to do with school year! School year begins March 1st, so if you were born in January or February you would be in the school year before you. You are peers, even if you're a "year" younger, with the people in your school year, and culturally "older" than people who are born into the next school year.

See: Taemin and Kai being besties.

That's why I refer to the idols born in pre-March 91 "School-year oppa" or "School-year eonni". xD

Counting the +1 year at birth and +1 year after New Year is still a little boggling to me, but... You can always just ask what year a person was born in and tada! You're set. All legal ages are also defined by your birth day and Western age. "It might be the year that Taemin was '20', but he only became a legal adult on his birthday."

What I personally find funny is when you have the "maknae" of a group that is a few months younger than his group mates. In NU'EST everyone except for Aron was born in the same 95 school year, but since Ren was born last in the July-to-November birthdays.. he's the maknae.

EDIT: They don't count Chinese New Year, only the regular calendar New Year. Other than being a holiday, the only thing I think they might use it for is factoring for Chinese Zodiac.

[narisa-rei.livejournal.com]

true.
my korean friends once explained it to me that school year is what made the difference.

[shineebambi.livejournal.com]

im too old for this shit i dont get it past im in the early year category

[kaylaa7x.livejournal.com]

lol the netizen comments were cute.

the first time this system (along with hagwons) was explained to me was by a korean exchange student in high school. she first introduced herself as 18...which made me question since she was a sophomore, but then she went on to explain that she was 16 western age and that 18 was her korean age due to explanations given in this post.

[21banged.livejournal.com]

I'll honestly never understand the age system Korea has. The only thing I'll ever be concerned about age wise in Korea is if an idol is jailbait or not lol

[jessicamariek.livejournal.com]

This. It's the fine line between "yessss noona approves" and "nope, you are a baby". :P

[nightfrost75.livejournal.com]

Since I'm a Nov baby I'm confused if I gained a year or lost it in this system.
All I got from this mess is to ask what year folks are born cause Zelo could stroll up to you like I'm 19 and next thing you know you in jail.

[x3raindropsx3.livejournal.com]

lmaooooo

[tothechangmin.livejournal.com]

I get it but it annoys me a little when i see overseas news reports and they put the idols' korean age instead of international age.

[ultraflyy23.livejournal.com]

Just wondering, why would that annoy you?

[iznanassi.livejournal.com]

I get the early year thing in terms of schooling, as someone who was born in January I'll graduate when I'm 18 and everyone else will be 17. It looks bad for some people, especially because they don't know my birthday right away.

[daisyazul.livejournal.com]

I just know that they are automatically one year older and then become one year older at new years. So a 20 yr old at new years will be considered 22......

I think

[cairistiona.livejournal.com]

This is true, but look at it this way: are you turning 21 in the coming year? If you are turning 21, you're 22 in Korea. It goes from what age you're turning, not what age you are.
It's like how people answer, "How old are you?" with "I'll be 22 this year." AKA "I'm 21 but I'm already looking to the future." It's the age you will be once you get there.