How Does Korea's 2023 Unified Age Law Change My Age?

The short answer: from June 28, 2023, age in Korea means international age

The answer is simple: from June 28, 2023, the standard age in Korea is international age. The Ministry of Government Legislation's Easy-to-Find Everyday Legal Information portal says the amended Civil Act and Framework Act on Administration, which introduced international age, took effect on June 28, 2023. Unless a law provides otherwise, ages written in statutes, contracts and official documents are read as international age.

It helps to know how the three counting methods differ. International age starts at 0 at birth and goes up by one on each birthday. Calendar-year age ignores birthdays entirely and is simply the current year minus the birth year. Korean age starts at one at birth and goes up by one on New Year's Day. The Law Library of Congress blog wrote that from June 28, 2023, Koreans would become younger on paper in some situations.

What the Easy-to-Find Everyday Legal Information portal says about the June 28, 2023 start date

The Ministry of Government Legislation's Easy-to-Find Everyday Legal Information portal announced that the amended Civil Act and Framework Act on Administration, which introduced international age, took effect on June 28, 2023. In the section on what changed, the same notice states that "as a rule, the age that serves as the standard in administrative and judicial matters shall be calculated as international age, counting the date of birth, and expressed in years." The notice goes on to explain that unless a special provision applies, ages written in statutes, contracts and official documents are read as international age. Korea Policy Briefing likewise reported that, absent a special provision, ages in statutes, contracts and official documents mean international age.

The legislative steps are also on the record. The Law Library of Congress blog wrote that the National Assembly passed the amendments to the Framework Act on Administration and the Civil Act on December 8, 2022. The same post noted that Civil Act No. 19098 and Framework Act on Administration No. 19148 were promulgated in the official gazette on December 27, 2022. The page on the reasons for the Civil Act amendment on the ministry's Korea Law Information Center displays "[Effective 2023. 6. 28.] [Act No. 19098, 2022. 12. 27., partial amendment]." These original texts can be read directly on the Korea Law Information Center and the Easy-to-Find Everyday Legal Information portal.

On June 26, 2023, at the Government Complex Seoul, the Ministry of Government Legislation announced that the unified age law would take effect on June 28. The ministry's press release explains that the law requires administrative and civil ages to be calculated and stated as international age unless a special provision applies. Korea.net also reported that the ministry announced on June 26 that the international age counting system would take effect on June 28. The Korea Herald reported that the amended law mandates the use of international age across all judicial and administrative areas.

How international age, calendar-year age and Korean age differ, and a 1992 example

International age starts at 0 at birth. From then on, it goes up by one on each birthday. The Easy-to-Find Everyday Legal Information portal explains that people whose birthday has already passed subtract their birth year from the current year. Those whose birthday has not yet come subtract one more year. Seoul Metropolitan Government's Mediahub Seoul likewise explains that international age is counted from your birthday, not from January 1.

Calendar-year age pays no attention to birthdays. A contributed article on Korea Policy Briefing describes calendar-year age as the current year minus the birth year and notes that it is rarely used in everyday life. Korean age works differently again. The Law Library of Congress blog wrote that under Korean age a person is one at birth and gains a year on New Year's Day, regardless of the actual birthday. The same post noted that North Korea has also adopted the international age system, and that South Korea appears to be the only country where Korean age is officially used in daily life.

The numbers make the gap obvious. The same blog used Son Heung-min, born on July 8, 1992, as an example. As of January 1, 2023, his international age was 30. His Korean age was 32, and his calendar-year age was 31. It can be taken as an illustration of how the same person's age on the same day can differ by as much as two years.

Where international age does not apply: the Military Service Act and the Youth Protection Act

Some age standards stayed as they were even after the unified age law took effect. Mediahub Seoul explains that international age does not apply to elementary school entry age, military service age, the age for buying tobacco and alcohol, or the age for sitting civil service exams. Korea.net also reported that the new system does not apply to elementary school admission, military service, the purchase of alcohol and tobacco under the Youth Protection Act, or civil service exams. Calendar-year age remains in use in certain laws, including the Youth Protection Act and the Military Service Act.

The specific standards are set out in the source material as well. A contributed article on Korea Policy Briefing explains that under the Military Service Act, a person can take the military service physical examination in the year they reach calendar-year age 19. The Korea Herald reported that alcohol and tobacco can be bought from January 1 of the year in which a person turns 19 in international age. The same article noted that the Youth Protection Act defines a youth as anyone under 19. It added that those born in 2004 were subject to the military service physical examination that year regardless of their birth month, and that those born in 2005 could sit civil service exams at grade 8 and below.

The timing of elementary school admission did not change either. Mediahub Seoul explains that under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, children still enter school on March 1 of the year following the year in which they turn 6 in international age. The Korea Herald likewise reported that the existing arrangement remains, with admission from March 1 of the year after a child turns 6 in international age, regardless of birthday. School start dates themselves are covered separately in a roundup of which month the school year begins in different countries.

Korea's Civil Act No. 19098 and Japan's 1949 age-reckoning law, item by item

Here is how the records from the two countries line up, item by item. On the name of the law: Korea has the Civil Act and the Framework Act on Administration, while Japan has the Act on the Method of Stating Age (年齢のとなえ方に関する法律). On the act number: Korea's Civil Act is Act No. 19098 and the Framework Act on Administration is Act No. 19148, while the Japanese law is Act No. 96 of Showa 24. On the promulgation date: Korea's was December 27, 2022, and Japan's was May 24, 1949. On the effective date: the Korean Civil Act amendment took effect on June 28, 2023, while the effective date of the Japanese law cannot be confirmed from the sources used here.

How the Japanese law came about is documented in the National Diet Library's Japanese Law Index (国立国会図書館 日本法令索引). The database records that the bill was submitted to the 5th session of the National Diet and was enacted on May 14, 1949. The sponsor was Tanaka Kotaro (田中耕太郎) together with 17 others, and the submission date was May 6, 1949. The bill was a House of Councillors members' bill, submission number 4. The same page lists the law's status as in force.

Even within Korea, there was never just one age standard. The Korea Law Information Center notes that calculating age as international age was already the rule before the amendment, under the provisions and interpretation of the Civil Act. The same source explains that Korean age was used in everyday life and calendar-year age in certain laws. Korea.net separately introduced insurance age: if the contract date falls within six months of the insured person's birthday, international age applies, and once six months have passed, a year is added. Mediahub Seoul noted that converting calendar-year age to international age would require amending each individual law.

The bottom line

In short, from June 28, 2023, any age without a special provision is international age. The Korea Law Information Center notes that the amended Civil Act clearly stipulates that age is calculated as international age and expressed in years. The same source explains that differences in how age was calculated and stated had led to confusion and legal disputes in the delivery of administrative services and the conclusion of contracts, creating unnecessary social and economic costs. The ministry's press release cited a case in which a dispute over the interpretation of the age of 56 set as the threshold for a wage peak system in a 2014 collective agreement dragged on in the courts until March 2022. The case cited was Supreme Court decision 2021Du31832, handed down on March 11, 2022.

The Ministry of Government Legislation ran a public opinion survey for 14 days, from September 5 to 18, 2022, on the e-People Public Deliberation platform. A total of 6,394 people took part, and 5,216 of them, or 81.6%, supported fast-tracking the amendments to the Civil Act and the Framework Act on Administration that would unify age counting. A further 5,511, or 86.2%, said they would use international age in everyday life once the law took effect. Sixty-eight percent said they were aware that the amendments had been introduced. These figures reflect responses at the time of the survey, and how everyday habits have actually changed cannot be confirmed from this source alone.