A National Law on Standardizing International Age
Will Take Effect on June 28, 2023
On June 28, the General Act on Public Administration and Civil Act will take effect and standardize the use of the international age-counting scheme.
∙ If your birthday has not passed yet this year, your age is the ‘current year – year of birth - 1’.
Starting from your birthday this year, your age is the ‘current year - year of birth’
☞ How to calculate your international age: https://www.moleg.go.kr/menu.es?mid=a10111060000
1. How do you calculate your ‘international age’?
☞ ‘International age’ is calculated by setting your age to zero on your date of birth and then adding one year at the time of your date of birth. In other words, instead of everyone aging by one year on January 1, each person ages by one year on their respective birthdays.
If your birthday has passed already this year, your age is the ‘current year – year of birth - 1’,
Starting from your birthday this year, your age is the ‘current year - year of birth’ (at 12 a.m. on your date of birth, you will be one year older)
2. How will the law affect the mandatory school entry age?
☞ There is no change. In accordance with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, children shall enter elementary school on March 1 in the year that follows the year when they turn 6 years old (based on international age).
3. How will the law affect the national pension coverage period, basic pension age, and retirement age for civil servants?
☞ There is no change. These stipulations were written into the current law based on international age. The standardization of the international age counting scheme will not cause any subsequent changes. In fact, the legal age used in South Korea refers to ‘international age’ unless in a situation applying special rules as an exception.
4. Are resident registration cards and driver’s license cards issued in the past still valid?
☞ Yes, they still are. These identification cards were issued based on the international age counting scheme used by current laws. The standardization of the international age counting scheme will not result in subsequent changes. In fact, the legal age used in South Korea refers to the ‘international age’ unless in a situation applying special rules as an exception.
5. What is ‘calendar age’?
☞ ‘Calendar age’ is an age counting scheme used by some national laws in which the age of a person is calculated by subtracting the year of birth from the current year, regardless of the person’s birthday.
This scheme is used under some statutes like the Youth Protection Act and Military Service Act. However, for general convenience, the government intends to replace all references to 'calendar age' with 'international age' except in arenas where the use of the 'calendar age' is mandatory.
6. When a certain statute mentions '60 years of age', does it refer to 'international age', 'calendar age', or 'Korean age'?
☞ In order to change references to ‘calendar age’ to ‘international age’, each relevant statute must be revised step by step. Therefore, the enforcement of the standardization law will not immediately result in dismantling the ‘calendar age’ scheme.
Since public opinion surveys and adequate reviews must be completed before the ‘calendar age’ scheme is revised, a research project (outside contracting) and a public survey will be carried out in the first half of this year. A plan for revising the statutes will be produced by the end of this year through cooperation with government agencies concerned.
However, for some of the statutes that can be revised quickly after discussions with the government agencies concerned, a revision plan will be devised as soon as possible.
7. What are some actual changes to be expected following the enactment of the ‘international age’ standardization law?
☞ The Civil Act and Framework Act on Administrative Regulations, which are fundamental laws governing civil affairs and government administration, stipulate that 'international age' should be the standard age used in calculations and communication. This makes it clear to all citizens that the age used in contracts, laws, and ordinances must correspond to ‘international age’ except for situations where special rules apply.
The adoption of the consolidation law can be expected to diminish all disputes and petitions caused by the concurrent use of conflicting age counting schemes substantially.
*Source: Government policy brief (www.korea.kr)
*This information was compiled on June 23, 2023.
*Translation: Seoul Foreign Resident Center 02-2229-4907 (2023. 6. 26.)
*Inquiries and advice: Seoul Foreign Resident Center 02-2229-4900
