[VIDEO] Social dilemma behind the Korean age controversy

Home > National >

print dictionary print

[VIDEO] Social dilemma behind the Korean age controversy

 Korea currently has not one, not two, but three age counting methods. The new Yoon Suk-yeol administration has vowed to unify all these age counting methods into one, and to make this happen as early as next year. Most young Koreans seem to support this idea.  
 
From a visitors’ perspective, Korea’s unusual relationship with age can be pretty confusing. Even before you get on to the different counting systems, the way Koreans use age is quite different from a lot of other countries. In most countries, asking somebody how old they are can come across as pretty rude.  
 
But in Korea it’s often one of the very first questions you ask because age directly relates to social standing, and only by knowing each other’s ages do we know how we should address each other.
 
With that being the case, Koreans have no choice but to be sensitive to how we count age. So what are the three different age counting methods?
 

BY LEE JUNG-JOO, JEON TAE-GYU [jeon.taegyu@joongang.co.kr]
Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)