한국어

Born in 2017

If you were born in 2017, you're 8 or 9 in 2026 - and your tti (Korean zodiac animal) is the Red Rooster.

    Your age in 2026
  • International age8 or 9
  • Korean age10
  • Year age9
    • The year 2017
  • tti (Korean zodiac animal)Red Rooster
  • Sexagenary cycleJeong-yu (丁酉年)
  • Five element Fire (火)
  • Leap yearCommon year
Was this page helpful?
Red RoosterJeong-yu (丁酉年) · Fire (火)

In the sexagenary cycle, 2017 is Jeong-yu (丁酉年). Its heavenly stem carries the element Fire (火), and that element decides the color - which makes it a year of the Red Rooster (酉).

Born 12 years apart - same Rooster
1981age 451993age 332005age 21

The year you were born: 2017

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

📰 What happened that year
  1. January 20🇺🇸 Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.
  2. February 13✈️ Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was assassinated at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia.
  3. March 10🏛️ The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment motion and removed President Park Geun-hye from office.
  4. May 12💻 The WannaCry ransomware swept through 99 countries, hitting organizations all over the world.
  5. September 3☢️ North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test.
  6. November 15🌏 A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck Pohang in North Gyeongsang Province, injuring 128 people.
  7. November 22🇿🇼 Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe stepped down, ending 37 years of one-man rule.
  8. December 21🔥 A fire at a sports center in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province killed 29 people.
🎬 Films and TV from that year
TV drama "Strong Woman Do Bong-soon"TV drama "Stranger"TV drama "Fight for My Way"TV drama "Prison Playbook"TV drama "My Golden Life"TV drama "Chief Kim"
🏆 Nobel Prizes that year
  • EconomicsRichard Thaler
  • LiteratureKazuo Ishiguro
  • PhysicsBarry Barish, Kip Thorne, Rainer Weiss
  • Physiology or MedicineJeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash, Michael W. Young
  • PeaceInternational Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
  • ChemistryJacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank, Richard Henderson

Source: Wikipedia · retold from the record

Life timeline for people born in 2017 🗓️

What someone born in 2017 becomes eligible for, year by year.

  1. Born
    2017Age 0
  2. Starts elementary school
    2024Age 6 · elementary

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

  3. Starts middle schoolUpcoming
    2030Age 12 · middle school
  4. Can take a part-time jobUpcoming
    2032Age 15

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

  5. Starts high schoolUpcoming
    2033Age 15 · high school
  6. Gets a resident registration cardUpcoming
    2034Age 17

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

  7. Can get a driver's licenceUpcoming
    2035Age 18

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

  8. Can voteUpcoming
    2035Age 18

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

  9. Can buy alcohol and tobaccoUpcoming
    2036Year 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
    2036Age 19

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

  11. Military service examinationUpcoming
    2036Year age 19

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

  12. Statutory retirement ageUpcoming
    2077Age 60

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

  13. National Pension startsUpcoming
    2082Age 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.

2017 by the numbers

What Korea's statistics office recorded about 2017.

Babies born in 2017

357,771babies

Then and now
  • When they were born357,771
  • Today (2025)365,325

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 birth82.7 yrsMen 79.7 · Women 85.7Born in 2024: 83.7 yrs
  • Births per woman1.05Children per woman over a lifetimeIn 2025: 0.8
  • Sex ratio at birth106.3106.3 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 2017 is 9 if they've already had their birthday this year and 8 if they haven't. In Korean age they're 10, and their year age is 9.
Counting from 2026, a 8-year-old was born in 2017.
2017 is the year of the Red Rooster. In the sexagenary cycle it's Jeong-yu (丁酉), and because the heavenly stem carries the element Fire (火), the animal picks up the color Red. One catch: the tti turns over at ipchun, around February 4, so a birthday before that counts as the previous year's animal.
No. 2017 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 🌐