‘Pyongyang Time’: North Korea Celebrates new Time Zone

North Korea gets new time zone, celebrations held at midnight as the nation’s clocks set back 30 minutes.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches the test-fire of a strategic submarine missile (not pictured), in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on May 9, 2015. (Photo: Reuters/KCNA)

North Korea now has its own time zone. After making the decision public a few days ago, bells were rung in Pyongyang and celebrations held at midnight as the nation’s clocks were set back 30 minutes to mark the August 15, 1945 anniversary of the Korean Peninsula’s liberation from colonial rule at the end of World War II.

Previously, established under Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule, nine hours ahead of GMT was the time zone both Koreas shared with Japan. Pyongyang’s decision to change is being seen as an effort to erase the legacy of the colonial period, which resonates with many Koreans on both sides of the Demilitarized Zone who remember the harsh rule of the Japanese and continue to harbor deep resentment toward Tokyo.

This is a great event in the history of the Korean nation, as it is of great significance in completely eradicating the leftovers of the Japanese imperialists in all fabrics of social life.
— North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency

‘Pyongyang Time,’ the new time zone, was adopted by the then-unified Korea in 1908, but two years after the peninsula was colonized, it was changed to the Japanese time zone on January 1, 1912.

South Korea briefly revived the time old zone from 1954 to 1961, while North Korea has stuck with the Japanese zone until now.

The decision to create a 30-minute difference in time is unusual but Pyongyang is known to make such decisions without much deliberation. However, this might just be a well thought out move as Jong Sok, Chief Astronomer at the Pyongyang Observatory, remarked that the change suits North Korea’s natural conditions.

(With Inputs from PTI)