On April 11, the 20th presidential transition team said, “We will push for a plan to unify the legal and social age calculation method based on ‘international age’ in accordance with president-elect Yoon Seok-yeol’s pledge.”
First, the team plans to establish the “international age” and marking regulations through the Civil Act and the General Act On Public Administration to ensure the use of “international age” in the civil and administrative fields. After that, they will promote revising laws that use the existing age calculation and using only “international age” in official documents. In addition to such legal maintenance, various campaigns and promotional systems will be promoted so that the “international age” culture can spread throughout society.
In this regard, many changes are expected in each field of society. There will be both advantages and side effects, and public opinion will differ.
According to Hankook Research, about 70% agreed to abolish Korean age and use “international age” as an official method of calculation and display. The most common reason was “to reduce confusion from law application and administrative process”, “to meet international standards”, and “smoothness in information delivery and communication” were also mentioned as grounds for approval.
On the other hand, there was an opposing crowd that wished to maintain the Korean age system. The most common reasons were “it is Korea’s unique culture”, followed by “the existing age calculation method is not uncomfortable” and “the benefits from the abolition of Korean age are not large”.
Korean age was used in other countries in the past, but today only Korea uses it. The team pointed out the problems of the existing age and is seeking to unify it to “international age” as early as next year. The pledge is expected to have positive effects on society, such as minimizing public confusion when laws are applied based on a certain age, reducing misunderstandings in global relations, and eliminating disputes over age interpretation in various contracts.
To begin with, it is foreseen that various laws and systems will need to be reorganized, and public support is also needed. Above all, care should be taken to prevent confusion within society. In the case of our school, students of various ages are mixed, so appropriate coordination between students is required.