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Born in 2010

If you were born in 2010, you're 15 or 16 in 2026 - and your tti (Korean zodiac animal) is the White Tiger.

    Your age in 2026
  • International age15 or 16
  • Korean age17
  • Year age16
    • The year 2010
  • tti (Korean zodiac animal)White Tiger
  • Sexagenary cycleGyeong-in (庚寅年)
  • Five element Metal (金)
  • Leap yearCommon year
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White TigerGyeong-in (庚寅年) · Metal (金)

In the sexagenary cycle, 2010 is Gyeong-in (庚寅年). Its heavenly stem carries the element Metal (金), and that element decides the color - which makes it a year of the White Tiger (寅).

Born 12 years apart - same Tiger
1974age 521986age 401998age 282022age 4

The year you were born: 2010

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

📰 What happened that year
  1. January 12🌍 A magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti, leaving more than 316,000 people dead or injured.
  2. February 26⛸️ Kim Yuna won the women's singles figure skating event at the Winter Olympics with a record total of 228.56 points, becoming the first South Korean figure skater to take Olympic gold.
  3. March 26⚓ The navy corvette Cheonan sank in waters near Baengnyeong Island.
  4. April 20🛢️ The Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico set off the worst oil spill on record.
  5. June 22⚽ South Korea, coached by Huh Jung-moo, finished the group stage with a match against Nigeria and advanced to the round of 16 at a World Cup held outside Korea for the first time.
  6. September 28🇰🇵 North Korea held its third party conference in Pyongyang, making Kim Jong-un's succession official.
  7. November 11🏛️ Seoul hosted the fifth G20 summit.
  8. November 23💥 North Korea shelled the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong with coastal artillery.
🎬 Films and TV from that year
TV drama "The Slave Hunters"TV drama "Secret Garden"TV drama "Bread, Love and Dreams"TV drama "Dong Yi"TV drama "Sungkyunkwan Scandal"TV drama "My Girlfriend Is a Nine-Tailed Fox"
🏆 Nobel Prizes that year
  • EconomicsChristopher Pissarides (Cyprus), Peter Diamond, Dale Mortensen (U.S.)
  • LiteratureMario Vargas Llosa (Peru)
  • PhysicsAndre Geim (Russian-born Dutch), Konstantin Novoselov (Russia)
  • Physiology or MedicineRobert Edwards (U.K.)
  • PeaceLiu Xiaobo (China)
  • ChemistryRichard Heck (U.S.), Akira Suzuki, Ei-ichi Negishi (Japan)

Source: Wikipedia · retold from the record

Life timeline for people born in 2010 🗓️

What someone born in 2010 becomes eligible for, year by year.

  1. Born
    2010Age 0
  2. Starts elementary school
    2017Age 6 · elementary

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

  3. Starts middle school
    2023Age 12 · middle school
  4. Can take a part-time job
    2025Age 15

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

  5. Starts high schoolThis year 🎉
    2026Age 15 · high school
  6. Gets a resident registration cardUpcoming
    2027Age 17

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

  7. Can get a driver's licenceUpcoming
    2028Age 18

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

  8. Can voteUpcoming
    2028Age 18

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

  9. Can buy alcohol and tobaccoUpcoming
    2029Year age 19

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

  10. Legal adulthoodUpcoming
    2029Age 19

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

  11. Military service examinationUpcoming
    2029Year age 19

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

  12. Statutory retirement ageUpcoming
    2070Age 60

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

  13. National Pension startsUpcoming
    2075Age 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.

2010 by the numbers

What Korea's statistics office recorded about 2010.

Babies born in 2010

470,171babies

Then and now
  • When they were born470,171
  • Today (2025)473,708

There are more people registered now than were born that year. ✨

The resident register also counts people who became Korean citizens later, so it can run past the birth count.

  • Life expectancy at birth80.2 yrsMen 76.8 · Women 83.6Born in 2024: 83.7 yrs
  • Births per woman1.23Children per woman over a lifetimeIn 2025: 0.8
  • Sex ratio at birth106.9106.9 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)

Frequently asked questions ❓

In 2026, someone born in 2010 is 16 if they've already had their birthday this year and 15 if they haven't. In Korean age they're 17, and their year age is 16.
Counting from 2026, a 15-year-old was born in 2010.
2010 is the year of the White Tiger. In the sexagenary cycle it's Gyeong-in (庚寅), 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. 2010 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 🌐