BTS’s V Makes Surprise Appearance On MBC News Explaining The “New Age Rule”—Here’s Why

V, who was born on December 30, is the perfect example of someone who was considerably affected by the Korean age system. Like everyone else in the country, he was one year old on the day he was born. Once New Year’s Day rolled around, another year was added to his age, making him two years old after only two days on Earth.

At present, he is 26 years old internationally, and he will turn 27 on his birthday. In contrast, he will be turning 29 years old in Korean age.

BTS’s V was born on December 30th. He is, by international age, 26 years old. How old will he turn next year, on January 1st, 2023? He will turn 27 years old because his birthday would have passed by then. By Korean age, however, he would turn 29 years old.

— MBC Newscaster

Besides this, there is another method used to count the Korean age—when the birth year is subtracted from the current year. This is what is currently being used to determine military eligibility. Using this method, V will be turning 28 instead of 29 years old.

Using the third method of counting age by subtracting the birth year from the current year, he would turn 28 years old. Note that this method is currently used for considering eligibility for military enlistment.

— MBC Newscaster

The newscaster went on to describe how having three different ages has caused social and legal issues in the country. In order to resolve these problems, Yoon Suk Yeol has vowed to make the international age the default system.

Like V, most Korean citizens deal with these three different ages. And the differences in these international, Korean, and “per-year” ages have, inevitably, caused social and legal problems. To resolve the issues that come with allowing more than one way to count age, the transition committee for President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol said it would amend laws to use international age by default.

— MBC Newscaster

When this amendment comes into effect, K-Pop idols will be considered one to two years younger.

The latest that men can enter the military is 28 years old in Korean age, so the change in system will possibly allow them to have more time to delay their service.

Learn more about the end of the Korean age system and its effect on K-Pop idols in the article below.