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North Korea changes time zone to match South Korea's

North Korea changes time zone to match South Korea's

May 05, 2018
02:23 pm

What's the story

After last week's historic North Korea-South Korea summit, Pyongyang has changed its time zone to match South Korea's, said a release by the state media. As of 11:30pm local time, clocks in North Korea were forwarded by 30 minutes to match the South's clocks. This "reset" is the "first practical step" to speed up Korean unification, said North Korea's official KCNA news agency.

Pyongyang Time

The story behind North Korea's Pyongyang Time

Until now, Pyongyang had been following its own time zone - Pyongyang Time - which was 30 minutes behind the time zones followed by South Korea and Japan. In 2015, Pyongyang said the extra 30 minutes acts as a symbolic stand against "wicked Japanese imperialists" because the Korean peninsula was forced to adhere to Japanese time when it was under Japanese rule.

Trump-Kim

Meanwhile, Trump says his meeting with Kim is confirmed

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump confirmed that he has a date and a location for meeting North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Trump added that the meeting's date and location would be "announced soon." On May 22, Trump will meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House to discuss his upcoming meeting with KIm Jong-un.

Denuclearization

Denuclearization to be the agenda of Trump-Kim meeting

The meeting between Trump and Kim is expected to take place sometime this month or in early June. While the location isn't known yet, Trump had previously expressed his wish for meeting in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the North and the South. However, Singapore is also an option. America's main aim is to push for North Korean denuclearization.