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Born in 1946

If you were born in 1946, you're 79 or 80 in 2026 - and your tti (Korean zodiac animal) is the Red Dog.

    Your age in 2026
  • International age79 or 80
  • Korean age81
  • Year age80
    • The year 1946
  • tti (Korean zodiac animal)Red Dog
  • Sexagenary cycleByeong-sul (丙戌年)
  • Five element Fire (火)
  • Leap yearCommon year
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Red DogByeong-sul (丙戌年) · Fire (火)

In the sexagenary cycle, 1946 is Byeong-sul (丙戌年). Its heavenly stem carries the element Fire (火), and that element decides the color - which makes it a year of the Red Dog (戌).

Born 12 years apart - same Dog
1910age 1161922age 1041934age 921958age 681970age 561982age 44

The year you were born: 1946

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

📰 What happened that year
  1. January 16🤝 The first U.S.-Soviet Joint Commission opened at Deoksugung Palace in Seoul.
  2. February🚩 The Provisional People's Committee for North Korea was formed.
  3. May 15💵 The U.S. military government's information office announced the Jeongpansa case, a counterfeit-currency scandal centered on a printing house in Seoul.
  4. June 18🇮🇹 Italy declared itself a republic.
  5. September 24🚂 Railroad workers in southern Korea walked off the job, kicking off the September General Strike.
  6. October 1✊ The Daegu October 1 Incident broke out in the zone run by the U.S. military government.
  7. October 16⚖️ The Nuremberg war crimes tribunal hanged 10 senior Nazi war criminals.
  8. December 19💥 The First Indochina War broke out.
⭐ Born that year
Roh Moo-hyun, 16th president of South KoreaDonald Trump, 45th president of the United States and former real estate developerBill Clinton, 42nd president of the United StatesFreddie Mercury, British singerSteven Spielberg, American film directorSong Dae-kwan, singer
🏆 Nobel Prizes that year
  • LiteratureHermann Hesse
  • PhysicsPercy Williams Bridgman
  • Physiology or MedicineHermann Joseph Muller
  • PeaceEmily Greene Balch and John Mott, jointly awarded
  • ChemistryJohn Howard Northrop and Wendell Meredith Stanley, jointly awarded

Source: Wikipedia · retold from the record

Life timeline for people born in 1946 🗓️

What someone born in 1946 becomes eligible for, year by year.

  1. Born
    1946Age 0
  2. Starts elementary school
    1953Age 6 · elementary

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

  3. Starts middle school
    1959Age 12 · middle school
  4. Can take a part-time job
    1961Age 15

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

  5. Starts high school
    1962Age 15 · high school
  6. Gets a resident registration card
    1963Age 17

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

  7. Can get a driver's licence
    1964Age 18

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

  8. Can vote
    1964Age 18

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

  9. Can buy alcohol and tobacco
    1965Year 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
    1965Age 19

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

  11. Military service examination
    1965Year age 19

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

  12. Statutory retirement age
    2006Age 60

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

  13. National Pension starts
    2006Age 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.

1946 by the numbers

What Korea's statistics office recorded about 1946.

People born in 1946, as of 2025

302,211people

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

Frequently asked questions ❓

In 2026, someone born in 1946 is 80 if they've already had their birthday this year and 79 if they haven't. In Korean age they're 81, and their year age is 80.
Counting from 2026, a 79-year-old was born in 1946.
1946 is the year of the Red Dog. In the sexagenary cycle it's Byeong-sul (丙戌), and because the heavenly stem carries the element Fire (火), the animal picks up the color Red. One catch: the tti turns over at ipchun, around February 4, so a birthday before that counts as the previous year's animal.
No. 1946 is a common year - 365 days, and February ends on the 28th.
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 🌐