Type "korean age" into Google and the top result, as of September 2026, is a LingoDeer post from 2020 that adds a year or two to your passport. That number was never your legal age in Korea, and since 28 June 2023 the government has been encouraging Koreans to drop it in daily life too.
It also misses what the question is for. When a Korean asks how old you are, they're working out whether you're 형, 누나 or 동갑, and your birth year settles that. So here are the three ages still in use in 2026, where each one applies, and the one-line answer that works whichever count the other person has in mind: 2000년생이에요.
What changed on 28 June 2023, and what didn't
The Korean government's policy briefing puts the new rule in one line: 특별한 규정이 없으면 행정·민사상 나이는 만 나이로 계산하고 표시. Unless a law says otherwise, age in administrative and civil matters is counted and shown as 만 나이 (man nai), full years since birth. That's the age you already use in the US.
Official documents were already in 만 나이 before the change. What the two amendments, to the General Act on Public Administration and the Civil Act, did was make it the stated default for administrative and civil matters, to end the mix-ups between counts. The National Assembly passed them on 8 December 2022, and they came into force on 28 June 2023.
The count they were aimed at is 세는 나이 (se-neun nai), "counting age," the one most English sites call "Korean age." You're 1 at birth and gain a year every 1 January, not on your birthday. Wikipedia's example is the brutal one: a baby born on 31 December turns two the next morning.
Laws already written in a third count were left alone.
The three Korean ages you'll still meet in 2026
| Age | Rule | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|
| 만 나이 (full age) | Years since birth, +1 on your birthday | Default for contracts, documents, anything official |
| 연 나이 (year age) | Current year − birth year | Alcohol and tobacco, military service, school entry, civil service exams |
| 세는 나이 (counting age) | Year age + 1 | No legal use. Older relatives, some K-dramas, outdated websites |
The middle row surprises people. 연 나이 (yeon nai) is written into specific statutes, and the 2023 amendments didn't touch them. The Juvenile Protection Act defines a minor as anyone under 19, "except those who have reached 1 January of the year they turn 19." Anyone born in 2007 could buy soju from New Year's Day 2026, including a December baby who is still 18 in 만 나이.
Military duty works the same way. The Military Manpower Administration says men enter the reserve pool on 1 January of the year they turn 18. The Korea Herald confirms that conscription exams, school entry and civil service exams also go by birth year, and korea.net lists the same exceptions as of the 2023 change.
Here's all three for one person: born in December 2000, asked in September 2026.
- 만 나이: 2026 − 2000 = 26, birthday not reached yet, so 25
- 연 나이: 2026 − 2000 = 26
- 세는 나이: 26 + 1 = 27
Same person, same afternoon, three honest answers. If you came here to ask "how old am I in Korean age," the last line is it, and it's the one number with no legal use left.
Why the law didn't change who you call 형
Two friends born in 2000 were 친구 on 27 June 2023 and still were on the 28th. Counting age was birth year plus one, so it always ranked people exactly the way birth year does. The new 만 나이 would have split them by birthday. Koreans kept the year.
Same legal age, three months apart, different birth years. The year wins.
Three months and a full social rank separate them. The one born in March 2003 will likely call the other 형 or 누나 (or 오빠/언니, depending on who's speaking; the address-terms post has that table). Two people born in January and December 2003 are 동갑 (donggap), peers, with eleven months between them.
That's why the question comes so early. Korean verbs carry a speech level, and Korean has no neutral word for "you," so a new acquaintance stays in polite -요 until they know your birth year and whether that -요 can ever come off. The speech-levels guide covers what the answer unlocks.
That's the default. At work, seniority and job titles often outrank birth year, and a 선배 who joined before you is 선배 regardless.
What to say when someone asks how old you are
You'll hear the question in three shapes. 몇 살이에요? (myeot sarieyo?) is the plain version between peers. 나이가 어떻게 되세요? (naiga eotteoke doeseyo?) is the polite one you'll get from a stranger. And 몇 년생이세요? (myeot nyeonsaengiseyo?) skips straight to the year.
Answer all three the same way: 2000년생이에요 (icheon-nyeonsaengieyo), "I was born in 2000." It can't be misread, because it doesn't depend on which count the listener is using.
If you do give a number, watch the number system. 살 takes native Korean numbers, and beginners reach for the Sino-Korean ones they learned for dates and money:
살 counts with native numbers: 스물다섯, not 이십오.
The number-systems post covers the split. If your full age and year age differ, 만으로 스물다섯이에요 (maneuro seumuldaseosieyo), "25 in full years," tells the listener which count you mean.
Try it in Conversa
Practice with AI characters who adapt to your level and give real-time feedback.
Try Conversa Free민준 and Alex meet at a language exchange:
민준: 혹시 나이가 어떻게 되세요? "If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?"
Alex: 저 2000년생이에요. "I was born in 2000."
민준: 진짜요? 저도 2000년생이에요! 우리 동갑이네요. "Really? Me too! We're the same age."
Alex: 그럼 우리 말 놓을까요? "Then shall we drop the formal speech?"
민준: 좋아! 편하게 하자. "Sure! Let's keep it casual."
민준 switches to 반말 in his very next line. 동갑 is the permission. Wiktionary's example for 말을 놓다 runs on the same logic: 나이도 동갑인데 말 놓자, "we're the same age too, let's drop the formalities."
If the other person turns out to be older, the direction flips. 지은 says 저는 97년생이에요, and Alex, a man, says 아, 그럼 누나시네요, "oh, so you're my 누나." Then he waits. The offer to go casual, 말 편하게 해, comes from the older person, and until it does, he stays in -요.
빠른 년생: when the birth year isn't enough
When 태호 introduces himself as 빠른 2000, he's telling you he was born in January or February 2000 and went to school with kids born in 1999. Until the late 2000s, the Korean school year took children born from March through the following February, so the Jan–Feb babies sat a year ahead. They're 빠른 년생 (ppareun nyeonsaeng), "early birth-year people."
태호: 빠른 2000이에요. 학교는 99년생이랑 다녔어요. "I'm an early 2000. I went to school with the '99s."
His classmates born in 1999 treat him as a friend. A 2000-born who met him later has to decide whether he's 동갑 or 형, and there's no right answer. Korean media call the resulting mess a 개족보, a mongrel family tree.
The system changed with the 2009 school year. Per the same Mediapen report, that year's first graders were born between March and December 2002, and from the 2003 cohort on, children enter by calendar year. The Jan–Feb 2002 babies were the last 빠른 년생, so in 2026 you'll meet them among people in their mid-twenties and up, and almost never among anyone younger.
Quick answers
Is Korean age still used in 2026? Not legally, and it wasn't on official documents before 2023 either. Since 28 June 2023, 만 나이 is the stated default for administrative and civil matters. 연 나이 still runs specific laws (alcohol, tobacco, military service, school entry), and counting age survives only in casual talk.
How old is 18 in Korean age? In counting age, 19 or 20: 19 if your birthday has passed this year, 20 if it hasn't. Legally you're 18, the same as in the US.
What is the drinking age in Korea? From 1 January of the year you turn 19. In 2026 that's everyone born in 2007 or earlier, whether or not they've had their birthday.
Why do Koreans ask what year you were born? Because the year, not the age, decides whether you're 동갑, older or younger, and that picks the verb endings and the word they'll use in place of "you."
Next time you hear 나이가 어떻게 되세요, skip the arithmetic. Give them the year, and let them do the rest.