North Korea pulls clocks back by 30 minutes to establish own time zone

The current time is a legacy of Japanese rule between 1910 to 1945 over what was then a single Korea, combining both North and South.

This clock on the wall of an underground train station in Pyongyang will be running 30 minutes behind from next week, when North Korea pulls back its current standard time. Wong Maye-E, File/AP Photo

SEOUL // North Korea has no time for Japan. Not anymore, at least.

The country will establish its own time zone next week by pulling back by 30 minutes its current time, a legacy of Japanese rule.

The new time zone will take effect August 15 — the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese rule at the end of World War II, North Korea’s official Central News Agency said on Friday. The establishment of “Pyongyang time” will root out that legacy, it said.

Local time in North and South Korea and Japan is currently the same.It was set during Japan’s rule over what was single Korea from 1910 to 1945.

The North’s move appears to be aimed at bolstering the leadership of young leader Kim Jong Un with anti-Japan, nationalistic sentiments, said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. Many Koreans, especially the elderly, on both sides of the border still harbour deep resentment against Japan over its colonial occupation. South Korea says it uses the same time zone as Japan because it’s more practical and conforms to international practice.

Seoul’s Unification Ministry said on Friday that the North’s action could bring minor disruption at a jointly-run industrial park at the North Korean border city of Kaesong and other inter-Korean affairs. Spokesman Jeong Joon-Hee said the North’s new time zone could also hamper efforts to narrow widening differences between the Koreas.

* Associated Press