Korean age traditionally added one or two years to your international age because Koreans were born "one" and gained a year every New Year. A 2023 law unified official records around international age, but social speech often still uses the old counts.
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Korean ginseng is commonly sold as an energy and wellness tonic, traditionally used to support stamina and recovery. This guide explains the different forms (fresh, white, red), how Koreans typically use them, and the vocabulary you'll see on product labels.
Korean age historically meant you were "one" (ν μ΄) the day you were born and gained another year on every January 1st β regardless of your actual birthday. That made most Koreans one or two years "older" in Korean age than in the international counting you're used to. As of June 2023, the official administrative system unified everything around international age, but people still use the old system in casual speech.
Before 2023, Koreans routinely tracked three different ages:
So a person born on December 30, 2000 could have been 24 (counting), 22 (international), or 23 (year-based) β all on the same day in early 2023.
South Korea passed a law in 2022, effective June 28, 2023, that made λ§ λμ΄ (international age) the default for all administrative and civil documents. Your ID, your contracts, your medical records β all of those now use international age.
What did NOT change:
Korean grammar and social behavior depend on relative age because the honorific system expects you to know who is older. In a first conversation, it's normal to ask:
λμ΄κ° μ΄λ»κ² λμΈμ?naiga eotteotge doeseyo? (naiga eotteoke doeseyo?) β "How old are you?" (polite)λͺ μ΄μ΄μμ?myeot sarieyo? (myeot sarieyo?) β "How old are you?" (casual but still polite)Once both parties know the gap, they settle on speech levels (μ‘΄λλ§ jondaetmal vs. λ°λ§ banmal) and titles like ν (hyeong), μΈλ (eonni), μ€λΉ (oppa), or λλ (nuna).
