If you are 25 years old, in South Korea you are 25, 26, 27 years old. All three at once.

South Korean citizens have always counted their age in three different ways. And now one of them might finally come to an end by 2023, because it is ''confusing'' and ''costly''.

Now, what are these three ways?  

1. The International Convention is well known. It is how everyone of us in the world normally calculates our age. 
2. The Alternative Way is where a baby is born at the age of 0 and gains a year on every Jan 1, irrespective of when they are born. Legal systems and Korea's military services use this age system.     
3. The ''Korean Age'' system is where the baby is born at the age one and where everyone gains another year on Jan 1, irrespective of their actual birth date. This system is used by everyone in the society. 

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But now, South Korea's current president Yoon Suk-Yeol is pushing for this historic ''Korean Age'' system to be abolished. But why?

This is an attempt to bring South Korea in line with the rest of the world, and to put an end to the old system which has resulted in "persistent confusion" and "unnecessary social and economic costs" for South Korea.

SO HOW IS THIS ALTERNATIVE AGE CALCULATED? 

As per this system, a baby gains a year on every January 1. 

Say a baby boy is born on July 31, 2021. On this day, he will be treated as a new-born baby, where his age is 0. 

On Jan 1, 2022, he will be considered to have turned a year older. Even though as per the International Conventions he would be just 6 months old.

Jan 1, 2023 he will be 2 years old as per his Korean legal documents. And so on. 

SO, HOW EXACTLY IS THE "KOREAN AGE'' CALCULATED?

Say, there is a baby born in South Korea on July 31, 2021. On this day, the baby will be treated as a one-year-old kid. Yes, a full one-year-old. 

This is very different from how we have normally calculated someone's age.

So now as on December 31, 2021 here is what the baby's age will look like: 

Age as per ''Korean customs'': One-year-old

Age as per ''the rest of the world'': Six-month-old

Now, here comes the NEXT weird part.

On January 1, 2022, the Koreans add one more year to their ''Korean age''! Whattt!

Yep. So as on January 1, 2022 your Korean age will change again and will look like: 

Age as per ''Korean customs'': 2-year-old

As per ''the rest of the world'' : Six-month-old

So, what will be the ''Korean Age'' of a baby born on say Dec 30, 2021?

He will be considered a 'one- year-old' on Dec 30 and 31, 2021 and a two-year-old on Jan 1, 2022. 

So weird and confusing!

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SO, WHY DID THE KOREANS TREAT A NEW-BORN BABY AS ONE YEAR OLD? 

As per the ancient Korean culture, the Koreans consider the nine months a child spends in the womb as part of the baby's age. So, when the baby is born, the nine months are rounded up to one year and the baby is considered one-year-old.

SO WHY IS IT CHANGING? 

Because of these different age systems in place, South Koreans end up having to figure out what method applies to which law or administrative process. Though South Korean official documents and laws have used the international system since the 1960s, in social settings people still follow the traditional method of counting their age. 

In recent years, South Koreans have increasingly supported simplifying the age system.

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For eg: Age often determines how people interact with each other in Korean schools and universities as children treat people in the same class as friends but address children from higher classes as ''seniors'', even though they really may be of the same age. Children from higher standards are not considered ''as friends'', the way it is in the rest of the world. Also, children who are born in the later part of the year are disadvantaged since they are placed with much older and advanced children in the same class, and are seen to be of the same age even though they are not. 

The age issue was also causing more legal matters in the Supreme Court for extra wages and retirement costs for the government.  

Also, Covid regulations in Korea turned out to be a messy business in 2021. The health authorities used the International age and the Korean ages interchangeably when they set guidelines for Covid-19 vaccine guidelines and policies. This led to the administrative officials asking people (who were not qualified for Covid-19 jabs), to show their proof of vaccination.  

So, looks like, Korea is trying to sync itself with the rest of the world. But will it do so?