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Korean Age (세는나이 – seneunnai) “age to count or counting age”

Korean age or 세는나이 – seneunnai refers to the age used in Korean society to interact with others and determine their social status. Unlike in the Western countries, where it is considered rude to ask a person’s age, in Korea, one of the first things that will be asked in an introduction is how old you are. In Korean language, there are varying levels of politeness and age is an important part of determining social status and will help the person you are conversing with to know what form of speech (formal, polite, or non-formal) to use or how to address them in conversation.

Korean age is used in both North and South Korea. In North Korea, international age is used instead of Korean age in the public offices and by public servants.

In Korea, the Confucian principles are heavily tied to everyday life and how people treat others. The influence of 장유유서 (長幼有序): (jang-yuyuseo) is still apparent in Korean society.

장유유서 (長幼有序): (jang-yuyuseo ), translates to “Jang Yu’s will” , which refers to the need for order between the adult and child and the custom of elders being of higher social status, or “elders first”. In Confucian tradition, there are five relationships that are maintained as there is a mutual responsibility for one human being to another. These principles are a model of social structure and how one should behave towards another.

For younger people, such as students, they will use Korean age (세는나이 – seneunnai) to determine if they are the same age or 동갑(donggap). If they are the same age, they may ask to drop the formalities and speak in 반말 (ban mal), which is informal speech, instead of 존댓말 (jon-daen-mal), which is the formal type of speech. 반 (ban) translates to “half” and 말 (mal) translates to “speech”.

When a baby is born in Korea, they are considered one year old as the time they spent in the womb is recognized as their first year of life. Additionally, every year on January 1st, every Korean person adds a year to their age. Koreans do not add a year to their age on their actual birthdays. A baby that is born on the 31st of December would therefore be considered two years or “du sal”, 두 살 on the 1st of January when they are only 2 days old.

The unit sal (살) is used to refer to Korean age alongside the Korean native numerals. A one year old would be "han sal", 한살 (one sal), a two year old would be “du sal”, 두 살 (two sal), and so forth.

To calculate your Korean age, you would take the current year and add one, then you would subtract your birth year. This will give you your Korean age.

In the elementary educational system (before 2003), you would find what was referred to as빠른_년생 people (Ppareun _nyeonsaeng = early birth), which were students who were allowed to go to school with children born a year earlier due to the deadlines set by the school system to start a certain grade. The school year starts in March in Korea and the deadline to sign up for a school is in late February, so students born in January or February can attend school with students who are a year older in Korean age if the parents allow it. Parents would have to choose if they wanted their child to go to school with students older than them or younger than them. For example, a student born in January or February of 2000 could attend the same grade as students born in 1999. This system ended in 2003, as it became confusing. These students would reply when asked their age 빠른 + year of birth + 년생 (빠른1987년생).

It should be noted that on official documents, such as a birth certificate, passport or license, or at a medical office, 만 나이(man nai) will be used. 만 나이(man nai) is international age or the same age concept as Western countries. 만 (man) translates to “full” and 나이(nai) translates to “age”.

The Korean age counting system is considered confusing by some and there have been attempts to abolish the system through the government. In 2019, lawmaker Hwang Ju-hong introduced a bill that would make the international system mandatory in South Korea.