Most South Koreans will officially become younger as the government consolidates three different methods for calculating one’s age used in Korean culture, NBC News reports, resulting in people dropping as many as two years off.
In Korean culture, people commonly calculate their age by starting at Age 1 at birth and then adding one year every January 1st. For purposes such as drinking ages and driving ages, people start at Age 0 at birth and add a year every January 1st. In the health care industry, patients’ ages are calculated the most common international way, with the actual birthday.
Starting in June 2023, the international method will be used on all official government documents across all levels of administration, with implementation starting in some areas as soon as everyone’s cultural “Yay, We’re All One Year Older” Day, which must be a helluva weekend at South Korean bars: New Year’s Eve, then New Age Year for Everyone back-to-back.