Time for change: The nationalist logic of N. Korea’s new time zone | NK News
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October 04, 2026Oct 04, 2026

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Time for change: The nationalist logic of N. Korea’s new time zone

Playing on bedrock anti-colonial sentiment, Pyongyang chooses one Japanese time zone over another

On August 15 the clocks will be going back in North Korea. This is not a regular occurrence. Actually, to the author’s knowledge, this is the first time the clocks have ever gone back in North Korea.

On Friday the DPRK suddenly announced that it is going to change its time zone. Currently the North Korean time zone is UTC+9, but after August 15 it will be UTC+8.30. Thus, there will be a 30-minute time difference between the two Koreas.

The order of the Supreme People’s Assembly, as published in the Rodong Sinmun, had this to say about the