[ti:South Koreans Become Younger after Country Changes Counting Method]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]更多听力请访问21VOA.COM
[00:00.04]Many South Koreans are now one or two years younger
[00:05.00]after the nation changed the way it counted ages on Wednesday.
[00:10.92]A new law will bring South Korea in line
[00:14.88]with how most countries around the world count a person's age.
[00:19.88]In the past, South Korea used a traditional age-counting method
[00:24.84]that considered a baby one year of age at birth.
[00:30.00]People then turned a year older every January 1.
[00:35.44]That means that a child born in December
[00:39.16]would turn 2 shortly after birth.
[00:43.32]One young girl told a local television station:
[00:47.32]"I turned 6 and then I became 5 again."
[00:52.16]Some South Koreans became two years younger.
[00:55.80]Oh Seung-youl went from 63 to 61.
[01:01.68]"It's always good to be younger," he said with a laugh.
[01:06.40]One person, however, reminded people that
[01:09.64]the new age-counting plan does not change a person's true age.
[01:14.24]Choi Eun-young is now 49. She used to be 50.
[01:21.64]"The law doesn't make you biologically younger
[01:24.44]and there are no real benefits other than feeling good
[01:28.44]about being called a year younger than before," she said.
[01:33.64]President Yoon Suk Yeol said updating all South Korean's ages
[01:40.04]to the international norm
[01:42.04]was an important goal for his government.
[01:44.84]He said he wanted to reduce "social and administrative confusion."
[01:52.32]But government officials said the new law does not change
[01:56.08]how South Koreans receive public services and benefits.
[02:00.96]They were always based on the international standard.
[02:04.80]So were rules about when a child starts school,
[02:09.40]when a young person is permitted to drive a car,
[02:12.92]and when an adult can get a pension.
[02:16.56]Kim Si-eun said she already misses
[02:20.56]the old method of age-counting.
[02:23.28]She is 21 years old. She said the old way seemed easier.
[02:28.16]"With everybody now going with international age,
[02:32.76]the changed ages feel awkward," Kim said.
[02:37.72]Some observers say the change will be helpful
[02:41.48]in situations such as giving medicine to children.
[02:46.24]Instructions on a box of medicine could say
[02:49.96]the amount for a 12-year-old is different from an 11-year-old.
[02:55.04]However, if the package was made outside of South Korea,
[02:59.56]it could be hard for South Korean parents
[03:02.76]to know how much medicine to give their child.
[03:06.60]One office worker noted that South Koreans respect older people.
[03:11.44]So if someone is now a bit younger,
[03:14.20]they may no longer be considered as important
[03:17.80]in an office or an organization.
[03:21.48]"You are losing as much as two years!"
[03:24.44]said 56-year-old office worker Choi Duck-sang.
[03:28.64]"Still, I think this is a change
[03:32.44]that should have been made much earlier.
[03:35.04]It's a good thing -–
[03:36.60]the entire nation got younger together," he said.
[03:41.40]I'm Dan Friedell. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM