paperthin hymns

koreadistrict:

Ever been confused by Korean age? You’re not alone.

If you’re reading this post expecting me to say “Everyone born the same year is chingu!” you’re mistaken. There’s more to Korean ages than that. For example Super Junior’s Kyuhyun was born in Feburary 1988 and Super Junior’s Ryeowook was born in June 1987 are in fact “chingu” (friends, in the Korean sense of the word).  This can be confusing.

Let’s lay down some basics:

In Korea you can only be friends (친구) with people the same age as you.  Anyone older/younger cannot technically be called your friend.  (You can however haver a very close relationship, you’re just not technically friends.)  Rank is important in Korean relationships.  You pay your elders with a certain respect (no matter how close you get) and you treat your dongsaengs differently from how you treat your elders and friends.  

Let’s look at another example for clarification:

SNSD’s Sooyoung was born in February 1990 while SNSD’s Yoona was in May 1990.  These two girls, however, are not friends in the Korean sense of the word.  Sooyoung is Yoona’s unni.  Yoona is expected to treat Sooyoung with a certain amount of respect that is given to elders.  

So, wondering how it is two girls born the same year only a few months apart are not friends?  The Korean school system is to blame/credit for that.  

Korean’s start school in March this means the age cut off is in February.  People born in January and February are clumped in with the people from the year before.  This is how Kyuhyun/Ryeowook from my first example are considered friends and the same age while Sooyoung/Yoona are not.  Sooyoung is considered the same age as everyone born in 1989 starting from March.  This means Tiffany who was born in August 1989 is her friend even though there is a larger gap between her and Sooyoung than there is between Sooyoung and Yoona.

So, when trying to figure out Korean ages keep this in mind:  If born after February add 1 year if born before March add 2 years.   

This means people born in February and January will never call someone born the year before them (after February) by a title other than friend, unless, that person has a title such as doctor/teacher/sunbae/boss.   (Teachers get more credit in Korea than they do in places like the USA.)  

Hope this helps!

i had to reblog cuz the whole Korean Age always got me super confused….