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Born in 2023

If you were born in 2023, you're 2 or 3 in 2026 - and your tti (Korean zodiac animal) is the Black Rabbit.

    Your age in 2026
  • International age2 or 3
  • Korean age4
  • Year age3
    • The year 2023
  • tti (Korean zodiac animal)Black Rabbit
  • Sexagenary cycleGye-myo (癸卯年)
  • Five element Water (水)
  • Leap yearCommon year
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Black RabbitGye-myo (癸卯年) · Water (水)

In the sexagenary cycle, 2023 is Gye-myo (癸卯年). Its heavenly stem carries the element Water (水), and that element decides the color - which makes it a year of the Black Rabbit (卯).

Born 12 years apart - same Rabbit
1987age 391999age 272011age 15

The year you were born: 2023

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

📰 What happened that year
  1. January 30😷 The indoor mask mandate was lifted across the board.
  2. February 6🌍 A magnitude 7.8 earthquake near Gaziantep in southern Turkey and Aleppo in Syria killed about 47,000 people.
  3. April 4🤝 Finland joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
  4. May 25🚀 The Nuri rocket was successfully launched for the third time.
  5. June 28🎂 South Korea adopted the international age-counting system for both official and everyday use.
  6. July 18🏫 A teacher working at Seoi Elementary School in Seoul died.
  7. August 24🌊 Japan began releasing contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean.
  8. October 7💥 Hamas launched a large-scale attack on Israel, starting a war.
🎬 Films and TV from that year
TV drama "Crash Course in Romance"TV drama "Taxi Driver 2"TV drama "Doctor Cha"TV drama "Revenant"TV drama "My Dearest"TV drama "Korea-Khitan War"
🏆 Nobel Prizes that year
  • EconomicsClaudia Goldin
  • LiteratureJon Fosse
  • PhysicsPierre Agostini / Ferenc Krausz / Anne L'Huillier
  • Physiology or MedicineDrew Weissman / Katalin Karikó
  • PeaceNarges Mohammadi
  • ChemistryLouis Brus / Moungi Bawendi / Alexei Ekimov

Source: Wikipedia · retold from the record

Life timeline for people born in 2023 🗓️

What someone born in 2023 becomes eligible for, year by year.

  1. Born
    2023Age 0
  2. Starts elementary schoolUpcoming
    2030Age 6 · elementary

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

  3. Starts middle schoolUpcoming
    2036Age 12 · middle school
  4. Can take a part-time jobUpcoming
    2038Age 15

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

  5. Starts high schoolUpcoming
    2039Age 15 · high school
  6. Gets a resident registration cardUpcoming
    2040Age 17

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

  7. Can get a driver's licenceUpcoming
    2041Age 18

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

  8. Can voteUpcoming
    2041Age 18

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

  9. Can buy alcohol and tobaccoUpcoming
    2042Year 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
    2042Age 19

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

  11. Military service examinationUpcoming
    2042Year age 19

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

  12. Statutory retirement ageUpcoming
    2083Age 60

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

  13. National Pension startsUpcoming
    2088Age 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.

2023 by the numbers

What Korea's statistics office recorded about 2023.

Babies born in 2023

230,028babies

Then and now
  • When they were born230,028
  • Today (2025)235,297

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 birth83.5 yrsMen 80.6 · Women 86.4Born in 2024: 83.7 yrs
  • Births per woman0.72Children per woman over a lifetimeIn 2025: 0.8
  • Sex ratio at birth105.1105.1 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 2023 is 3 if they've already had their birthday this year and 2 if they haven't. In Korean age they're 4, and their year age is 3.
Counting from 2026, a 2-year-old was born in 2023.
2023 is the year of the Black Rabbit. In the sexagenary cycle it's Gye-myo (癸卯), 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.
No. 2023 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 🌐