The South Korean legislature is expected to pass a bill next month that would lower the legal adult age from the current 20 to 19 to reflect rapid social changes and global trends, parliamentary and judicial officials said Wednesday.
The bill, set to become effective as of July 1, 2013, will allow Koreans to engage in legally binding activities without parental consent when they reach 19 years of age.
The revision to the civil law passed the parliamentary legislation and judiciary committee last month, the officials said.
Lawmakers and the Justice Ministry had submitted six similar bills on lowering the adult age since 2008, and the one that passed the committee is a comprehensive compromise, they said.
The changes aim to take into account the global trend of lowering the minimum adult age as adolescents grow increasingly mature both physically and mentally, officials said.
In South Korea, the legal voting age is 19 under election law.