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Born in 2012

A closer look at your age if you were born in 2012.

    Your age
  • International age13 or 14
  • Korean age15
  • Year age14
    • Zodiac and cycle
  • tti (Korean zodiac animal)Black Dragon
  • Sexagenary cycleIm-jin (壬辰年)
  • Five element Water (水)
  • Leap yearLeap year
Other Dragon years
1976age 49-501988age 37-382000age 25-262024age 1-2

Life timeline for people born in 2012 🗓️

Key milestones by age, year by year.

  1. Born
    2012Age 0
  2. Starts elementary school
    2019Age 6-7 · elementary

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

  3. Starts middle school
    2025Age 12-13 · middle school
  4. Can take a part-time jobUpcoming
    2027Age 15

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

  5. Starts high schoolUpcoming
    2028Age 15-16 · high school
  6. Gets a resident registration cardUpcoming
    2029Age 17

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

  7. Can get a driver's licenceUpcoming
    2030Age 18

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

  8. Can voteUpcoming
    2030Age 18

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

  9. Can buy alcohol and tobaccoUpcoming
    2031Year 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
    2031Age 19

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

  11. Military service examinationUpcoming
    2031Year age 19

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

  12. Statutory retirement ageUpcoming
    2072Age 60

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

  13. National Pension startsUpcoming
    2077Age 65

    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: 2012

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

📰 What happened that year
  1. March 15🤝 The Korea-U.S. free trade agreement took effect.
  2. April 11🗳️ South Korea held its 19th National Assembly election.
  3. June 30🏙️ Sejong was established as South Korea's first special self-governing city..
  4. July 4⚛️ The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) announced it had found a particle believed to be the Higgs boson.
  5. July 27🏅 The 30th Summer Olympics opened in London, England.
  6. September 20🎤 PSY's "Gangnam Style" entered Guinness World Records as the most-liked video ever on YouTube.
  7. November 15🇨🇳 Xi Jinping took over as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.
  8. December 19🏛️ Park Geun-hye of the Saenuri Party beat Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party in the 18th presidential election, becoming South Korea's first woman president.
🎬 Films and TV from that year
TV drama "The Moon Embracing the Sun"TV drama "Reply 1997"TV drama "A Gentleman's Dignity"Film "The Thieves"Film "Masquerade"Film "Architecture 101"

Source: Wikipedia · retold from the record

2012 by the numbers

Population and other key statistics.

  • Births in 2012484,550
  • Registered residents in 2025490,313

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 birth80.9 yrsMen 77.6 · Women 84.2Born in 2024: 83.7 yrs
  • Births per woman1.3Children per woman over a lifetimeIn 2025: 0.8
  • Sex ratio at birth105.7105.7 boys per 100 girls

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 2012 is 14 if they've already had their birthday this year and 13 if they haven't. In Korean age they're 15, and their year age is 14.
Counting from 2026, a 13-year-old was born in 2012.
2012 is the year of the Black Dragon. In the sexagenary cycle it's Im-jin (壬辰), and because the heavenly stem carries the element Water (水), the animal picks up the color Black. One catch: the tti turns over at ipchun, around February 4, so a birthday before that counts as the previous year's animal.
Yes. 2012 runs 366 days and February goes all the way to the 29th, so some people born in 2012 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 🌐