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Born in 1974

If you were born in 1974, you're 51 or 52 in 2026 - and your tti (Korean zodiac animal) is the Blue Tiger.

    Your age in 2026
  • International age51 or 52
  • Korean age53
  • Year age52
    • The year 1974
  • tti (Korean zodiac animal)Blue Tiger
  • Sexagenary cycleGap-in (甲寅年)
  • Five element Wood (木)
  • Leap yearCommon year
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Blue TigerGap-in (甲寅年) · Wood (木)

In the sexagenary cycle, 1974 is Gap-in (甲寅年). Its heavenly stem carries the element Wood (木), and that element decides the color - which makes it a year of the Blue Tiger (寅).

Born 12 years apart - same Tiger
1938age 881950age 761962age 641986age 401998age 282010age 16

The year you were born: 1974

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

📰 What happened that year
  1. January 8⚖️ Emergency Decrees No. 1 and No. 2 were issued.
  2. April 25🇵🇹 The Carnation Revolution took place.
  3. May 18☢️ India carried out a nuclear test in the Thar Desert of western Rajasthan.
  4. August 9🏛️ Richard Nixon resigned as U.S. president over Watergate, and Vice President Gerald Ford was sworn in as the 38th president.
  5. August 15🕯️ At a Liberation Day ceremony in Seoul, Mun Se-gwang, a Korean resident of Japan with ties to the pro-North Korean group Chongryon, tried to assassinate President Park Chung-hee and killed his wife, Yuk Young-soo.
  6. November 15🚧 U.N. Command announced that it had found the First Infiltration Tunnel in the demilitarized zone near Panmunjom.
  7. November 24🦴 Lucy, an ancestor of Homo sapiens, was discovered in Ethiopia.
  8. November 27✊ The Declaration for the Restoration of Democracy was issued.
⭐ Born that year
Leonardo DiCaprio, American actorChristian Bale, British actorAlessandro Del Piero, Italian soccer playerKim Dong-ryul, singerShin Ha-kyun, actorKim Je-dong, TV personality
🎬 Films and TV from that year
Film "Heavenly Homecoming to Stars"Film "The Land"Film "The Car That Runs on Water"
🏆 Nobel Prizes that year
  • EconomicsGunnar Myrdal, Friedrich von Hayek
  • LiteratureEyvind Johnson, Harry Martinson
  • PhysicsMartin Ryle, Antony Hewish
  • Physiology or MedicineAlbert Claude, Christian de Duve, George Palade
  • PeaceSeán MacBride, Eisaku Satō
  • ChemistryPaul Flory

Source: Wikipedia · retold from the record

Life timeline for people born in 1974 🗓️

What someone born in 1974 becomes eligible for, year by year.

  1. Born
    1974Age 0
  2. Starts elementary school
    1981Age 6 · elementary

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

  3. Starts middle school
    1987Age 12 · middle school
  4. Can take a part-time job
    1989Age 15

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

  5. Starts high school
    1990Age 15 · high school
  6. Gets a resident registration card
    1991Age 17

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

  7. Can get a driver's licence
    1992Age 18

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

  8. Can vote
    1992Age 18

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

  9. Can buy alcohol and tobacco
    1993Year 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
    1993Age 19

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

  11. Military service examination
    1993Year age 19

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

  12. Statutory retirement ageUpcoming
    2034Age 60

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

  13. National Pension startsUpcoming
    2039Age 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.

1974 by the numbers

What Korea's statistics office recorded about 1974.

Babies born in 1974

922,823babies

Then and now
  • When they were born922,823
  • Today (2025)844,025

91% of that year's babies are still here with us. ✨

  • Life expectancy at birth63.9 yrsMen 60 · Women 67.8Born in 2024: 83.7 yrs
  • Births per woman3.77Children per woman over a lifetimeIn 2025: 0.8
  • Sex ratio at birth109.4109.4 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 1974 ⭐

Shin Ha-kyunActor, Voice actorMay 30, 1974 · 52 years old💙 Blue TigerMoon So-riActorJuly 2, 1974 · 52 years old💙 Blue TigerKim Jung-eunActorMarch 4, 1974 · 52 years old💙 Blue TigerKim Byung-chulActorJuly 5, 1974 · 52 years old💙 Blue TigerJoo Jin-moActorSeptember 26, 1974 · 51 years old💙 Blue TigerByun Jung-sooActor, ModelApril 15, 1974 · 52 years old💙 Blue TigerSong Seon-miActorSeptember 13, 1974 · 51 years old💙 Blue TigerOh Na-raActorOctober 26, 1974 · 51 years old💙 Blue Tiger
Who else was born in 1974?Everyone born in 1974

Frequently asked questions ❓

In 2026, someone born in 1974 is 52 if they've already had their birthday this year and 51 if they haven't. In Korean age they're 53, and their year age is 52.
Counting from 2026, a 51-year-old was born in 1974.
1974 is the year of the Blue Tiger. In the sexagenary cycle it's Gap-in (甲寅), 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.
No. 1974 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 🌐