Revealed: Why Tottenham's Son Heung-Min has officially aged backwards

Revealed: Why Tottenham's Son Heung-Min has officially aged backwards

David Ben 11:23 - 29.06.2023

The Spurs winger who turns 31 next month is now 29 years old.

Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-Min became a year younger overnight this week following South Korea’s new legislation that formally scraps its unusual traditional method of counting citizens' ages.

A report from ESPN reveals that the law was passed in December by newly elected Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol.

Yoon had previously campaigned for the country's unorthodox method of counting age to be abolished to bring it in line with the rest of the world.

Son Heung Min age
Son Heung Min of Tottenham Hotspur |Imago photo

 The report adds that the edict finally came into effect on Wednesday, and every member of the Korean populace effectively became either one or two years younger in unison, as per Reuters.

The traditional Korean age system dates back centuries and saw the gestation period of all babies included in their age, deeming them to be one year old at birth.

 Every person then became another year older every January 1.

However, the common international system of counting age stipulates that every newborn baby is deemed age zero at birth and has another year added to their age annually from there on.

This had also been in place in South Korea since the 1960s but was exclusively used for official purposes, such as medical or legal documentation. 

Yoon Suk Yeol, President of South Korea/photo via Twitter
Yoon Suk Yeol, President of South Korea/photo via Twitter

As of this week, the country has abolished its traditional system and will now solely adhere to the international system to reduce the number of disputes and confusion in the discrepancy between the two systems.

What will happen to Heung Min Son's age?

Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur
Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur forward Heung Min Son was born on July 8, 1992, and is 30 years old, according to the international ageing system. 

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However, despite the constitutional changes being made in Korea, Spurs will not have to alter any of the forward's registration information as the club are simply required to supply the Premier League with a verified date of birth, not an age.

Outside of football, what this ultimately means is that Son will no longer turn 31 next month but could either remain 30 years old or could be registered as a 29-year-old in his home country.

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