South Korea's Time Travelling Adventures

Overnight, many South Koreans found themselves younger – technically. Rather than being the result of some catastrophic administrative error or space-time trickery, it was a conscious decision by the powers that be. So what happened?

A Unique Approach

Societal differences regularly cause complications. Languages create communication barriers, local customs baffle outsiders, and certain countries insist on using obtuse units of measurement. One constant, you might think, is age. Despite our many quirks, it seems to be something we can agree on. You’re zero upon birth, getting progressively older each year. Simple. 

Until recently, one notable exception was South Korea. For them, babies were born with one year already notched against their name, as time in the womb was counted rather than discarded. Aside from the three-month miscalculation, there is some logic to this.

However, to make matters more out of step with the international community, one additional year is added on each subsequent January 1st. As you might imagine, this led to some strange situations. A child born at 11:55 PM on December 31st for example, would be two by the time it left the hospital. As if being born wasn’t exciting enough, two birthdays would be crammed into five minutes.

An Age Old Problem

South Korea’s unique approach caused issues for some time. Since the 1960s, the internationally accepted method has been used for legal and medical purposes but wasn’t universally adopted. Many official documents kept the traditional method, which - as you might imagine - was a huge administrative headache. 

The dual age system led to legal disputes, with individuals claiming ages that better suited them for different purposes. So as well as being infuriatingly confusing, the tradition was beginning to cost South Korea financially – causing the centuries-old tradition to fall out of favour with the public. A September 2022 poll showed 86% were against it.

Shortly afterwards, it was scrapped. The government needed little pushing to abolish an unnecessary complication lacking public support. In December 2022, a law was passed, bringing South Korea into the international community’s boring but unarguably logical approach to age.

Turning Back the Clocks

So, from the 28th of June, South Koreans woke up younger – some one year, some two. Many would dream of this kind of miracle, especially those approaching or hovering around scary decade landmarks. 

“I was about to turn 30 next year but now I have some more time earned, and I love it,” Said Choi Hyun-Ji, a now 27-year-old Seoul resident.

“It’s just great to feel like you’re getting younger.”

Fortunately for those who've just turned of age, alcohol and cigarette privileges will not be revoked. Certain exceptions will remain in place with the traditional system permitting those recently allowed to purchase age-restrictive items to continue, meaning many South Korean young adults can live the dream of teenagers worldwide and increase their age when getting served at a bar.