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Born in 1948

A closer look at your age if you were born in 1948.

    Your age
  • International age77 or 78
  • Korean age79
  • Year age78
    • Zodiac and cycle
  • tti (Korean zodiac animal)Golden Rat
  • Sexagenary cycleMu-ja (戊子年)
  • Five element Earth (土)
  • Leap yearLeap year
Other Rat years
1912age 113-1141924age 101-1021936age 89-901960age 65-661972age 53-541984age 41-42

Life timeline for people born in 1948 🗓️

Key milestones by age, year by year.

  1. Born
    1948Age 0
  2. Starts elementary school
    1955Age 6-7 · elementary

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

  3. Starts middle school
    1961Age 12-13 · middle school
  4. Can take a part-time job
    1963Age 15

    Under 15, or under 18 and still in middle school, you need an employment permit (Labor Standards Act, Art. 64).

  5. Starts high school
    1964Age 15-16 · high school
  6. Gets a resident registration card
    1965Age 17

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

  7. Can get a driver's licence
    1966Age 18

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

  8. Can vote
    1966Age 18

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

  9. Can buy alcohol and tobacco
    1967Year 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
    1967Age 19

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

  11. Military service examination
    1967Year age 19

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

  12. Statutory retirement age
    2008Age 60

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

  13. National Pension starts
    2008Age 60

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

The year you were born: 1948

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

📰 What happened that year
  1. April 3🕯️ The Jeju April 3 Incident began - an uprising on Jeju Island and the long crackdown that followed.
  2. May 10🗳️ Southern Korea held its first general election to form the Constituent National Assembly.
  3. May 14🇮🇱 Israel was founded.
  4. July 17📜 South Korea’s first constitution was promulgated, naming the country the Republic of Korea.
  5. August 15🏛️ The government of the Republic of Korea was established.
  6. September 9🚩 The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was established, with Kim Il-sung as premier.
  7. October 19💥 The Yeosu-Suncheon Incident began with a military mutiny in the two southern cities.
  8. December 10🕊️ The UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
🎬 Films and TV from that year
Film "A Public Prosecutor and a Teacher"Film "Yu Gwan-sun"

Source: Wikipedia · retold from the record

1948 by the numbers

Population and other key statistics.

People born in 1948, as of 2025

391,994people

Source: Statistics Korea birth statistics and life tables; Ministry of the Interior and Safety resident population(as of 2025)

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Frequently asked questions ❓

In 2026, someone born in 1948 is 78 if they've already had their birthday this year and 77 if they haven't. In Korean age they're 79, and their year age is 78.
Counting from 2026, a 77-year-old was born in 1948.
1948 is the year of the Golden Rat. In the sexagenary cycle it's Mu-ja (戊子), and because the heavenly stem carries the element Earth (土), the animal picks up the color Golden. One catch: the tti turns over at ipchun, around February 4, so a birthday before that counts as the previous year's animal.
Yes. 1948 runs 366 days and February goes all the way to the 29th, so some people born in 1948 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 🌐