I was 20 year on January 23^rd of this year, but one month later when I arrived in Seoul I was already 21 year old! I didn’t even have the time to realize that I am 20, that I gained in some travel’s hours 1 year more !

Why did I gain one year more when I came to Korea?
Why in Korea everyone is at least one year older than they actually are?
The first reason it’s because in Korea, when a child born he already is 1 year old. Koreans count the pregnancy time of the mother as the first year of the child’s life. The child exists from the moment where he was conceived.

Moreover, when the New Year passed in Korea, everybody is one year older: the birthday month don’t really matter. So according to your year and month of birth you can even be two years more!
For example, a child born the December 29^th will be one year old, but few day later, after the January  1^st he will be two years old, and the next December 29^th  he won’t be one year more.

This custom allows me to understand why some Koreans that I met even before my stay in Korea always seemed younger that they said. It’s so hard to guess well the age of a Korean !

France VS Korea on Vimeo 

You are curious about your Korean age? You can calculate it like this :
(This year – Your birth year) + 1 = Your Korean age