Korean Age/ True Maknae of U-KISS

So I remembered that Korean age is very specific. So much so that 2 minutes between twins is enough to rank one child higher in status than the other.

 Korean age is also a very big deal to any Korean/ in Korean society. If you're older, you are the one that's talked to, and you're also the one that usually makes all the decisions. Ajumas and ajyoshis (grandmas and grandpas) are in very high status in Korea. They can talk on the top of their voice in a train but everyone else will get sushed. They are kind of like the people that no  rules apply to an it's because they're older than everybody else.

If you're younger than someone, in Korean society, you have to call them by an honorific. It differs depending on male, female, their relation to you, and your gender. For instance, the maknae is the youngest person in a group. Hyung is an younger male to an older male. Sonbae-nim is from a younger guy to an older guy in a school/ education situation. Oppa is from a girl to an older guy. They older people also have honorifics for younger people.

The older people set the standard of familiarity in a conversation. For instance, when you first meet and older person, you have to greet them with "annyongnaseo" which is the full version of "hello" in Korean, and demonstrates the full amount of respect. However, an older person you just greeted with "annyongnaseo" could return with an "annyong" which is the shortened version of "hello" and often translated to "hi" or "hey." Only in very friendly situations with these people will a younger person be able to say annyong to older people and it usually doesn't even happen in marriages, or in family situations, kind of like dropping the honorifics in Japanese.

This makes dating very difficult in Korea because when you meet a girl, and you greet her with "nuuna" (what a younger male calls an older woman, also translated as "older sister") you run the risk of calling her old looking and offend her. However, if you don't use the right honorific and refer to her as being younger than you, it also might be interpreted as that you think she is inferior.

It's very difficult to get the honorific right when you first meet someone and a lot of Koreans will greet you by blatantly asking what your birth date is, before they even say hello to you.

So a while back I posted a post about the new maknae of U-KISS, now that Dongho was gone, all to find out that, except for Soo Hyun who's 2 years older than everyone else, they're all 22 and that there really wasn't any maknae. Well, there is because they weren't all born on the same day, at the same minute, in the same second, which is how far Korean age specificity goes. So, I went and looked at all of their birth dates and here's what I found: (from oldest to youngest, not counting Soo Hyun)

Kiseop: Jan 17, 1991

AJ: June 4, 1991

Eli: March 13, 1991

 Hoon: August 16, 1991

Kevin: November25, 1991

I always thought Hoon was the second oldest but he's the second youngest XD Woah I really didn't know Kevin was the youngest!!!

BEHOLD YOUR NEW MAKNAE, KEVIN WOO!!!!!!!!

not me...
~R