99 problems, and this number is one: Why Koreans are wary of ages that end in 9

[WHY]

A 29-year-old man witnesses his yearlong crush end in heartbreak. His 19-year-old brother, a judo hopeful, loses a crucial match because of an upset stomach. Their youngest 9-year-old brother, a child actor, loses a major film role to a rival. And their uncle, a 39-year-old television producer, gets demoted after making a mistake during a live broadcast. 

These are some of the misfortunes that the four characters suffer through in the 2014 tvN drama series “Plus Nine Boys.” The common denominator for their setbacks seems to be ahopsu, the Korean superstition that ages ending in nine — or ahop — invite bad luck.

Ahopsu is also why Koreans are often advised not to make life-changing decisions, especially involving moving or marriage, at ages 9, 19, 29, 39 and so forth.

Korean folk beliefs and shamanistic traditions remain embedded in everyday life to varying degrees, whether in parents consulting “naming experts” to choose their newborn’s given name, one that will bring them good fortune, or in the many saju (fortune-telling) shops lining the streets across the country.

While some numbers associated with bad luck, such as 13 or 666, are universally known, the superstition involving nine is unique to Korea. This alleged curse is a regular fixture in Korean popular culture, especially in entertainment and sports. 

But fear not: Ahopsu is not the cause of every mishap that happens at an age ending in nine. Instead, psychological and social factors are more to blame.

Why Koreans dread nine

In the popular tvN drama series “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God” (2016-17), the protagonist, Ji Eun-tak, asks the Grim Reaper how he found her at 9 years old and again at 19.

“Nine, 19, 29. The moment before you become whole is when you’re most vulnerable,” the Grim Reaper replies, referring to how nine is widely perceived as “incomplete” since it is the last number before the next multiple of 10.

An example of nine’s incompleteness is reflected in a popular Korean folk character: the Gumiho, a magical nine-tailed fox who aspires to become a beautiful woman. Depending on the version of the tale, the Gumiho must eat 100 human livers or disguise herself as a person and keep her identity hidden for 100 days while married to a human man to achieve her dream.

Yet she always falls short — at 99 livers or 99 days. 

In reality, people at such ages may have mixed emotions about entering the next “era,” such as a 19-year-old who feels both uneasy and excited as they approach their 20th birthday, the official end of their teens and the start of young adulthood. 

“When people are just about to enter a new decade of life, they tend to feel more anxious,” Yoon Ryeo-bin, the director of the Korean Association of Myeongri Studies, told the Korea JoongAng Daily. The association is dedicated to the study of traditional Chinese metaphysics, a system widely practiced in Korea to interpret a person’s path in life based on their date and time of birth.

“The perception of nine as the final hurdle of sorts before reaching 10 may have created [ahopsu].” 

An unsubstantiated superstition

Despite its longstanding influence, ahopsu’s origins remain unclear, with no definitive explanation for how it emerged — largely because it has no theoretical basis in traditional Chinese metaphysics, according to experts.

Some online users have speculated that ahopsu originated in the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), when Koreans’ life expectancy averaged 35 years due to food shortages and disease. This may have influenced people to approach the next decade of life with caution.

Yoon also suggested that beliefs such as ahopsu may have emerged in ancient times because people were more susceptible to external influences, including their family and superstition. 

“Thousands of years ago, when people lived with extended family, they didn’t make important decisions independently. They were more likely to follow their parents’ wishes,” she said.

A Korean folk belief similar to ahopsu is samjae, or the “three calamities,” referring to a three-year period of disaster that recurs in a nine-year cycle. These calamities are typically said to manifest as health issues, financial losses and relationship problems. A person’s zodiac sign determines the exact years in which they experience samjae.

Traditionally, to prevent such misfortunes, people wore amulets or conducted shamanistic rituals, usually at the beginning of the lunar calendar year.

For instance, in Korea’s southeastern regions, people stuffed scarecrows with money and a note written with the name and birth date of the “cursed” individual before throwing it onto the street.

Nine looms large from screen to sports 

The myth of the unlucky nine continues to be a recurring staple in television, books, webtoons and even sports. In popular media, it usually manifests as a group of friends on the brink of entering a new decade of life. 

The JTBC television rom-com series “Thirty-Nine” (2022), starring actors Son Ye-jin, Jeon Mi-do and Kim Ji-hyun, follows a trio of friends as they experience life, love and loss at the age of 39. 

A similar premise appears in the Naver Webtoon “The Year When We Turned 29” (translated, 2019–), in which three childhood friends struggle with their careers and love lives at 29 years old. 

Even Wi Ki-chul’s novel “When I Turned Nine” (1991), a bestseller frequently included on school-recommended reading lists, centers on a 9-year-old boy living in a shantytown as he navigates family issues, school life and his first love. 

Interestingly, ahopsu is also prominently featured in Korean baseball, with the media often labeling players as facing a psychological hurdle when approaching relevant milestones.

A recent example is Austin James Dean, the U.S. outfielder and first baseman for the LG Twins, who was “stuck on ahopsu” at 39 home runs for the season since Sept. 13, according to an SPOTV News report earlier this month.

In a match against the Kia Tigers on Oct. 4, Dean finally achieved his 40th home run of the season, breaking the jinx.

It’s either love or doom elsewhere 

Conversely, nine is a symbol of good luck in China.

The number has the same pronunciation as the Chinese character that means “everlasting” — jiu. On the annual Qixi Festival, nicknamed Chinese Valentine’s Day, giving 99 roses to a significant other symbolizes eternal love. 

The number also holds a significant place in Chinese history and culture, such as with the Nine Provinces, ancient China’s territorial divisions, or the nine sons of the dragon, a set of mythological creatures often depicted in traditional decorations. 

But in Japan, nine is considered unlucky because its pronunciation is a homonym for the word meaning “suffering.” 

“Many Japanese hospitals, as a result, do not have rooms or beds numbered nine,” an excerpt from the book “The Seven Keys to Communicating in Japan: An Intercultural Approach” (2017) reads. 

“One would be especially unlucky to end up in room 49. The combination of four (death) and nine (suffering) would suggest that you would suffer to death in such a room.” 

Both Korea and Japan consider the number four cursed, as its pronunciation can sound exactly like certain characters meaning “death.” The number is particularly avoided in hospitals, where elevators either label the fourth floor as “F” or skip it entirely. 

In Hinduism, nine, called navan, is a sacred and complete number that symbolizes the end of a cycle and marks a new beginning. Prominent examples include the Navaratri, an annual nine-night Hindu festival celebrating the nine forms of Goddess Durga, and the Navagrahas, nine celestial bodies and deities in Vedic astrology. 

The perception of the number nine may also be related to the Year 2000 problem, better known as Y2K, when people worried that the transition from Dec. 31, 1999, to Jan. 1, 2000, would trigger widespread computer failures and disrupt everything from government operations to financial markets. 

Although the crisis was driven by technical concerns rather than superstition, a similar “predoom” anxiety surfaced earlier on Sept. 9, 1999, when some experts and media outlets warned of a potential computer-system collapse due to the date“9/9/99.”

“There have long been interpretations of the No. 9 here and there, including Chinese classical texts and the teachings of [ancient Chinese philosopher] Laozi, but there is nothing that mentions that people should be wary of the age ending in nine,” said a fortune-telling expert who requested anonymity.

“That’s just something that people say.”

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [[email protected]]