Thursday, South Korea enacted legislation to abandon its traditional method of counting ages and adopt the international standard, a change that will result in its citizens appearing one or two years younger on official documents.

When a Korean is born, he or she is considered to be one year old, and an additional year is added on January 1. This is the age most frequently mentioned in daily life.

For conscription purposes or calculating the legal age to drink alcohol and smoke, a separate system exists in which a person's age is calculated from zero at birth and one year is added on January 1.

Since the early 1960s, South Korea has also used the international standard of starting from zero at birth and adding one year on each birthday for medical and legal documents.

When the new laws mandating the use of only the international method of counting ages go into effect in June 2023, the confusing array of systems will disappear, at least on official documents.

Yoo Sang-bum, a member of the ruling People Power Party, told the National Assembly, "The revision aims to reduce unneeded socioeconomic costs because legal and social disputes as well as confusion persist due to the various methods of calculating age."

Jeong Da-eun, a 29-year-old office worker, remarked that she was pleased with the change and that she has always had to pause when asked about her age abroad.

"I recall foreigners looking at me with bewilderment because it took me so long to respond to their question about my age."

"Who wouldn't want to lose a couple of years?" she continued