한국어

Born in 1970

If you were born in 1970, you're 55 or 56 in 2026 - and your tti (Korean zodiac animal) is the White Dog.

    Your age in 2026
  • International age55 or 56
  • Korean age57
  • Year age56
    • The year 1970
  • tti (Korean zodiac animal)White Dog
  • Sexagenary cycleGyeong-sul (庚戌年)
  • Five element Metal (金)
  • Leap yearCommon year
Was this page helpful?
White DogGyeong-sul (庚戌年) · Metal (金)

In the sexagenary cycle, 1970 is Gyeong-sul (庚戌年). Its heavenly stem carries the element Metal (金), and that element decides the color - which makes it a year of the White Dog (戌).

Born 12 years apart - same Dog
1934age 921946age 801958age 681982age 441994age 322006age 20

The year you were born: 1970

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

📰 What happened that year
  1. March 15☢️ The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was ratified.
  2. April 8🏢 The Wau Apartments collapsed in Seoul.
  3. April 10🎸 The Beatles put out their last album and broke up.
  4. July 7🛣️ The Gyeongbu Expressway, the highway linking Seoul and Busan, fully opened.
  5. September 29🗳️ The New Democratic Party picked Kim Dae-jung as its presidential candidate at the party convention.
  6. November 12🌀 Cyclone Bhola made landfall in Bangladesh, killing more than 300,000 people.
  7. November 13🕯️ Jeon Tae-il set himself on fire outside Seoul's Peace Market, demanding that the country's labor standards law actually be enforced.
  8. December 15🚢 The ferry Namyeong-ho sank off Korea's southern coast, killing 326 people.
⭐ Born that year
Han Kang, novelist and poetKim Hye-soo, actorMatt Damon, American actorCha Seung-won, model turned actorPark Myung-soo, comedianLee Jong-beom, former baseball player and coach
🎬 Films and TV from that year
TV drama "The Young Mistress"Film "Love Me Once Again 3"
🏆 Nobel Prizes that year
  • EconomicsPaul Samuelson
  • LiteratureAleksandr Solzhenitsyn
  • PhysicsHannes Alfvén, Louis Néel
  • Physiology or MedicineJulius Axelrod, Bernard Katz, Ulf von Euler
  • PeaceNorman Borlaug
  • ChemistryLuis Leloir

Source: Wikipedia · retold from the record

Life timeline for people born in 1970 🗓️

What someone born in 1970 becomes eligible for, year by year.

  1. Born
    1970Age 0
  2. Starts elementary school
    1977Age 6 · elementary

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

  3. Starts middle school
    1983Age 12 · middle school
  4. Can take a part-time job
    1985Age 15

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

  5. Starts high school
    1986Age 15 · high school
  6. Gets a resident registration card
    1987Age 17

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

  7. Can get a driver's licence
    1988Age 18

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

  8. Can vote
    1988Age 18

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

  9. Can buy alcohol and tobacco
    1989Year 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
    1989Age 19

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

  11. Military service examination
    1989Year age 19

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

  12. Statutory retirement ageUpcoming
    2030Age 60

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

  13. National Pension startsUpcoming
    2035Age 65

    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.

1970 by the numbers

What Korea's statistics office recorded about 1970.

Babies born in 1970

1,006,645babies

Then and now
  • When they were born1,006,645
  • Today (2025)898,223

89% of that year's babies are still here with us. ✨

  • Life expectancy at birth62.3 yrsMen 58.7 · Women 65.8Born in 2024: 83.7 yrs
  • Births per woman4.53Children per woman over a lifetimeIn 2025: 0.8
  • Sex ratio at birth109.5109.5 boys per 100 girls

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 1970 ⭐

Lee Byung-hunActorJuly 12, 1970 · 56 years old🤍 White DogYang Hyun-sukSingerJanuary 9, 1970 · 56 years old🤍 White DogKim Hye-sooActorSeptember 5, 1970 · 55 years old🤍 White DogJeon Mi-seonActorDecember 7, 1970 · 55 years old🤍 White DogCha Seung-wonActor, ModelJune 7, 1970 · 56 years old🤍 White DogRyu Seung-ryongActorNovember 29, 1970 · 55 years old🤍 White DogLee Jung-eunActorJanuary 23, 1970 · 56 years old🤍 White DogKim Soo-roActorMay 7, 1970 · 56 years old🤍 White Dog
Who else was born in 1970?Everyone born in 1970

Frequently asked questions ❓

In 2026, someone born in 1970 is 56 if they've already had their birthday this year and 55 if they haven't. In Korean age they're 57, and their year age is 56.
Counting from 2026, a 55-year-old was born in 1970.
1970 is the year of the White Dog. In the sexagenary cycle it's Gyeong-sul (庚戌), and because the heavenly stem carries the element Metal (金), the animal picks up the color White. One catch: the tti turns over at ipchun, around February 4, so a birthday before that counts as the previous year's animal.
No. 1970 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 🌐