All South Koreans to become younger as traditional age system scrapped

June will mark end of system that deemed newborns to be a year old, with a year added every 1 January

South Korea is to scrap its traditional method of counting ages and adopt the international standard - a change that that will knock one or two years off people's ages on official documents but could take time to seep into daily life.

South Koreans are deemed to be a year old when they are born, and a year is added every 1 January. The unusual - and increasingly unpopular - custom means a baby born on New Year's Eve becomes two years old as soon as the clock strikes midnight.