Time Zone History

North Korea time zone history

Since 1970 it has also used UTC+8:30, an offset that is not a whole number of hours. The latest change of standard time came on May 4, 2018, from UTC+8:30 to UTC+9.

UTC+9

Standard time is UTC+9 (KST) all year under the current rules.

tz database name Asia/Pyongyang

Convert a time from North Korea

Twice a new standard time since 1970

UTC+8:23, UTC+8:30: behind today’s standard timeUTC+9: today’s standard timeUTC+8:23, UTC+8:30: behind today’sstandard timeUTC+9: today’s standard time

How to read this chart

Before 1970

190019201940196019001940
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1970198019902000201020202028JFMAMJJASOND1970198019902000201020202028

Standard time changes

DateChangeNew standard timeClock label
Before 1970
April 1, 1908Local mean time (UTC+8:23) replacedUTC+8:30KST
January 1, 1912Standard time forward 30 minutesUTC+9JST
Since 1970
August 15, 2015Standard time back 30 minutesUTC+8:30KST
May 4, 2018Standard time forward 30 minutesUTC+9KST

Also on UTC+9

South Korea, Japan, Chita (Russia), Yakutsk (Russia), Khandyga (Russia), Palau, Jayapura (Indonesia) and East Timor.

Clocks next door since 1970

  • South Korea (195 km): same time except 1,302 days in 1987, 1988 and 2015–2018.
  • Vladivostok (Russia) (694 km): usually 1 hour ahead; different on 8,179 days in 1981–2018.
  • Shanghai (China) (949 km): usually 1 hour behind; different on 1,890 days in 1986–1991 and 2015–2018.
  • Japan (1,291 km): same time except 994 days in 2015–2018.
  • Taiwan (1,603 km): usually 1 hour behind; different on 1,452 days in 1974, 1975, 1979 and 2015–2018.

How it compares

On standard time, clocks in Pyongyang run 37 minutes ahead of local mean solar time.