Korean Job Discussion Forums

[BCgirl]

Ok, I am newbie and trying to learn as much as possible. Can someone please enlighten me as what Korean age is??

Thanks

[BCgirl]

Goodness, so many different things. My husband and I are heading to Korea in the middle of April so I am excited to learn as much as I am able to prepare for the complete shock and change of living in Korea.


p.s. I shouldn't be trying to type and be coherent at 6 am without sleep!

[hellofaniceguy]

I always hear koreans talking about "korean age or western age." I tell them, your birthday starts when you are born! Not when you feel like it!
This korean age BS goes back many years. Why? In the past, korean babies who were born usually died within the first year due to lack of medical care, nutrition, dieting, etc. Consequently koreans celebrated the birth the following year. A good luck omen of some sorts seeing how the baby lived a whole year. But with the medical care and mortality rate declining, no reason exists to continue this trend. But, koreans are monkey see monkey do and that's the way my parents did it so, so will I. It's hard for a korean to think on their own and want to change the old ways. I have met hundreds of koreans who don't care for korean ways or style and complain about some of the things that are done but they also won't stand up or try and change it for the better. They are frowned upon and made to feel bad by other koreans. The more things change in korea, the more they remain the same. Confusion. But, it's worked for them thousands of years even if others don't agree. Hey, it's their country! We'd run them out of ours if they wanted to change our style! It's also strange; on koreans ID card, it has the date that they were born, not the date they want on it. When they apply at the embassy to visit another country, the date they were born also applies, not korean age.

[Zyzyfer]

[Ya-ta Boy]

I've been told that Koreans count the years in which you have been living. So if you are born on Dec. 31, that counts as a whole year.

[schwa]

Koreans I talk to reckon on the better part of a year in the womb, so yeah, conception figures into it. Plus it seems to be an individual choice whether to acknowledge the solar or lunar birthdate.

Seems to me this is similar to how a horse's age is calculated in the west -- born as a yearling & their age is upped each new years. Is that accurate?

When Koreans want to get an accurate assessment of someone's age, they ask what year you were born.

[rumibaer]

hmm~~
a general rule of thumb to go by, is if ( in Western time) your birthday has passed that year, then your "Korean" age is one year added to that.

If your birthday has not passed, then your "Korean" age is two years added to that.

so for example, my birthday was in Feb, so it's passed and while I am 22 in the States I am 23 in Korea. Were my birthday to be in June, then while I would only be 21 in the States, I would still be "23" in Korea.

*^^*

[FierceInvalid]

Yeah...another way to do it (though more cumbersome) is to think about it in terms of "How many calendar years have I been in existence during, even if only for one day?" Start at your birth year, then count 'em up.

This, of course, assumes the "age goes up on Jan.1" interpretation, which personally I've found to be much more common.

[sonofthedarkstranger]

I always wondered, does this mean that a baby born Jan 1 1975 and a baby born December 31 1975 (these 2 kids of course will always be the same age) will reach drinking age, driving age, conscription age etc.. on the same date? Doesn't seem quite fair.

[rumibaer]

takes a bit to get used too.. but yeah a friend of mine's birthday is
Jan.20th 1976, but on all his SN's and such he puts '75, because since his
birthday falls before the lunar new year, he's technically a 75-er. and another guy who is June 1976, treats him wiht the utmost deference, as if he were a year older, even though by our standards they're only 5 months apart o.O

[mousafir]

And to throw another wrench into the works is that a korean�s �official� birthday (the one listed on ID cards and passports) is the date when the parents got around to registering the birth not the day they were born. A warning for you folks trying to do fiancee visa. I messed up my fiancee�s by putting the day she was actually born not the date on her passport.

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

Also, Korean age is "AIDS".

They pronounce AIDS "age".

[sid]

I quite like the way Koreans calculate age, it makes just as much sense to to start at one as zero (I think). And there's a certain satisfying order in everyone within the same school year being the same age.

However, my girlfriend is an illustration of some of the confusion you can get into. Official birthday as it appears on documents is in July, but Appa's tractor must have broken down a few times on the trip to the registry office as her birthday is five months earlier on the 14th day on the lunar calendar. As for her actual date of birth...... anyone's guess! Until we find a 1980 calendar from somewhere.

[chi-chi]

They also seem to calculate that you are automatically 28 or 29 if you are married, or even engaged.
When I was there, I was like, damn, I'm losing years of my life...
Younger people in Korea I guess don't get married or engaged younger than this, and they think that it applies to Westerners, too.

[rumibaer]

times a changin' , but it's still pretty common in korea for young women to get married right out of college, and 24 seems to a common age for girls to get married. Women who are 28-29 are kinda considered a little old... and definetely korean moms want you married by 30- NO if's and's or but's! unless you want to be a pariah of korean society... my older sister is 28, 29 in korean age and she's considered like a spinster. most of her friends are either married, or getting married this year.

Korean guys however, tend to be a different case. Most Korean guys dont want to get married until they are 30-32. What with going to "goon-dae" and all, they are already older than the average american bear when they get out of college, then they usually want to find a job, have a little fun & freedom, and be financially stable before they get married and assume all the responsibilities *cough* shackles that come with marriage. It's a little unfair I suppose, because it's perfectly normal for a 32 year old korean guy to finally decided to marry- but he's usually never going to want to marry a 32 year old korean woman- because she would be a spinster.. he will probably marry a woman in her twenties.

* i'm not saying this goes for every korean person, this is just from my experience growing up in a korean family, and talking to oppa's and unnie's at school and in korea ^^