North Korea is getting its own time zone.
According to state news agency KCNA, North Korea will set its clock back by 30 minutes to “Pyongyang time” on Aug. 15.
The change was made to reflect what it called the 70th anniversary of its liberation from Japan after World War II and will reset the time to GMT +08:30, as it was before Japanese colonization. The new North Korean time will put Pyongyang half an hour behind Tokyo and Seoul, according to CNN.
The communist nation already has its own calendar based on the birth of its founding leader Kim II Sung.
“The wicked Japanese imperialists committed such unpardonable crimes as depriving Korea of even its standard time while mercilessly trampling down its land with 5 000 year-long history and culture and pursuing the unheard-of policy of obliterating the Korean nation,” KCNA reported on Friday.
What about South Korea? South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said Friday that the change could cause some problems.
“Some difficulties are likely to come in inter-Korean exchanges, including flows to and from the Kaesong Industrial Complex,” he said, adding it could have negative effects on inter-Korean integration in the long run.
