Among the most popular treasures in the National Museum of Korea, these two Pensive Bodhisattvas are probably the greatest highlights. They are more than 1,400 years old, and both are National Treasures. They are also the only objects in the museum displayed in their own independent gallery, called the Room of Quiet Contemplation . The room was designed by Korean architect Choi Wook. You first walk from a bright corridor into a dark passage. While your eyes adjust to the darkness, your mind also begins to calm down. Then you turn right and enter a large hall, but there are only two statues inside. Because there is so much empty space around them, you naturally focus on the statues. The floor rises slightly toward them, at an angle of about one degree. You may not notice it with your eyes, but your body can sense it, so you naturally walk more slowly. Above you are approximately 21,000 aluminium rods. Their different lengths and angles make the ceiling appear tilted and endless, al...
In Korea, Ahead of the presidential election, candidates are making several campaign pledges. Among them, a promise to change the Korean age system into an international standard is attracting people's attention.
The Korean age system is a little bit different from the international age system that calculates how many years and months a person has lived since his or her birthday. Korea has a unique way of counting babies as being age 1 from birth. That means everyone in Korea already becomes a year old at birth. This is the idea that time in a mother's womb is also considered a part of life.
People already treat their baby in the womb as a human. So Koreans give their baby a name during pregnancy to call the unborn baby before the baby is born. (=Taemyeong) It is also the unique culture of Korea to give an unborn child a name and call that name from the time she is in the womb.
However, the Korean age system got a problem during the Covid-19 period. Our government announced its plan to implement the vaccine pass for children aged between 12~18. Vaccine eligibility age, which begins at the age of 12 and older, follows the international standard age system but the Korean government has applied the vaccine pass mandate from 12 years old using the Korean age system. Children born in 2010 are not yet 12 years old, so they are not suitable for the vaccination.
As soon as the government's announcement came out, the public's complaints intensified, leading the political class to make such a pledge. In Korea, not all institutions follow the Korean age system, but some are following international standards, which is why confusion is mounting.