한국어

Born in 1944

If you were born in 1944, you're 81 or 82 in 2026 - and your tti (Korean zodiac animal) is the Blue Monkey.

    Your age in 2026
  • International age81 or 82
  • Korean age83
  • Year age82
    • The year 1944
  • tti (Korean zodiac animal)Blue Monkey
  • Sexagenary cycleGap-sin (甲申年)
  • Five element Wood (木)
  • Leap yearLeap year
Was this page helpful?
Blue MonkeyGap-sin (甲申年) · Wood (木)

In the sexagenary cycle, 1944 is Gap-sin (甲申年). Its heavenly stem carries the element Wood (木), and that element decides the color - which makes it a year of the Blue Monkey (申).

Born 12 years apart - same Monkey
1908age 1181920age 1061932age 941956age 701968age 581980age 46

The year you were born: 1944

Here's what the world was up to that year 👀

📰 What happened that year
  1. January 20⚔️ Japan started drafting Korean students into the military.
  2. February 8⛏️ Under the National Mobilization Law, Japan began conscripting people for labor in mines and munitions factories.
  3. June 6🪖 American and British forces launched the Normandy landings.
  4. August 4📔 The Gestapo discovered the hiding place where Anne Frank, her family, and others were living, and everyone there was sent to the camps.
  5. August 23😢 Japan's Ministry of Health issued the Women's Volunteer Labor Order, and most of the women mobilized under it were forced into sexual slavery as “comfort women” - forced into wartime sexual slavery.
  6. August 23🇫🇷 Paris was liberated from German occupation.
  7. October 23🚢 The Battle of Leyte Gulf, often called the largest naval battle in history, wiped out the Imperial Japanese Navy.
  8. December 16❄️ The Battle of the Bulge, Germany's last big offensive, began.
⭐ Born that year
Han Myeong-sook, politicianYoon Jeong-hee, actorSon Sook, actorLee Jung-gil, actorDiana Ross, American singerJimmy Page, guitarist of the British rock band Led Zeppelin
🏆 Nobel Prizes that year
  • PhysicsIsidor Isaac Rabi
  • PeaceInternational Committee of the Red Cross

Source: Wikipedia · retold from the record

Life timeline for people born in 1944 🗓️

What someone born in 1944 becomes eligible for, year by year.

  1. Born
    1944Age 0
  2. Starts elementary school
    1951Age 6 · elementary

    The March after turning 6 - Korean school years start in March, not September.

  3. Starts middle school
    1957Age 12 · middle school
  4. Can take a part-time job
    1959Age 15

    Ages 13-14 can work only with an employment permit (Labor Standards Act).

  5. Starts high school
    1960Age 15 · high school
  6. Gets a resident registration card
    1961Age 17

    Issued from the first day of the month after turning 17 (Resident Registration Act).

  7. Can get a driver's licence
    1962Age 18

    Class 2 ordinary licence. Mopeds are allowed from 16 (Road Traffic Act).

  8. Can vote
    1962Age 18

    Must be 18 on election day (Public Official Election Act).

  9. Can buy alcohol and tobacco
    1963Year age 19

    From January 1 of the year you turn 19 - this one uses year age, not your birthday (Youth Protection Act).

  10. Legal adulthood
    1963Age 19

    Adulthood begins on the 19th birthday (Civil Act, Article 4).

  11. Military service examination
    1963Year age 19

    Held in the year a man turns 19 (Military Service Act · year age · men only).

  12. Statutory retirement age
    2004Age 60

    The floor employers must set, not a fixed date (Act on Prohibition of Age Discrimination · reference).

  13. National Pension starts
    2004Age 60

    Between 63 and 65 depending on your birth year, with at least 10 years of contributions (National Pension Act · reference).

Ages follow international age unless noted. Buying alcohol or tobacco and the military service examination use year age - the calendar year you turn that age - so they can land a year earlier than you expect. School entry, retirement and the National Pension are general rules and can differ case by case.

1944 by the numbers

What Korea's statistics office recorded about 1944.

People born in 1944, as of 2025

270,820people

Source: Statistics Korea - Birth Statistics(1970~2025) and Life Tables(~2024); Ministry of the Interior and Safety - Resident Registration Population(as of 2025) (KOSIS)

Famous people born in 1944 ⭐

Oh Yeong-suActorOctober 19, 1944 · 81 years old💙 Blue MonkeyYoon Jeong-heeActorJuly 30, 1944 · 82 years old💙 Blue MonkeyBaek Il-seobActorJune 10, 1944 · 82 years old💙 Blue MonkeySon SookActorMay 13, 1944 · 82 years old💙 Blue MonkeyLee Sang-yongActorApril 2, 1944 · 82 years old💙 Blue MonkeyKim Young-aeActorDecember 6, 1944 · 81 years old💙 Blue Monkey
Who else was born in 1944?Everyone born in 1944

Frequently asked questions ❓

In 2026, someone born in 1944 is 82 if they've already had their birthday this year and 81 if they haven't. In Korean age they're 83, and their year age is 82.
Counting from 2026, a 81-year-old was born in 1944.
1944 is the year of the Blue Monkey. In the sexagenary cycle it's Gap-sin (甲申), and because the heavenly stem carries the element Wood (木), the animal picks up the color Blue. One catch: the tti turns over at ipchun, around February 4, so a birthday before that counts as the previous year's animal.
Yes. 1944 runs 366 days and February goes all the way to the 29th, so some people born in 1944 only get a real birthday every four years.
Korean age starts at 1 the day you're born, and everybody adds a year together on January 1 instead of on their birthday. That makes it one or two years higher than international age. Since June 2023, Korean law, contracts, and official documents all use international age, but you'll still hear Korean age in everyday conversation.

Sources 🌐