Asia · Eastern Asia · Sovereign state
Current time in North Korea
A single time zone at UTC+09:00.
Sunday, May 31, 2026
About North Korea's time
A single time zone.
North Korea operates on a single timezone, Pyongyang Time (UTC+9), known as Korea Standard Time, aligning with South Korea's standard offset. However, for a brief period in 2015-2018, it used UTC+8:30 as "Pyongyang Time"—separating the peninsula by 30 minutes (South Korea uses UTC+9).
Major cities
Cities of North Korea.
History
How North Korea keeps time.
Before Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945), Korea followed UTC+8:30, based on the Seoul meridian (127°E). After liberation in 1945, both North and South Korea initially used UTC+8:30, but the division of the peninsula led to different paths.
North Korea officially adopted UTC+9 (Korea Standard Time) in 1961 to match South Korea and Japan, with some references suggesting use of this offset on and off before that formal alignment.
On August 15, 2015—the 70th anniversary of Korean liberation—Pyongyang made a symbolic move by reverting to UTC+8:30 and officially shifting its clocks back to **2015-08-15 00:00 UTC+09:00**, launching "Pyongyang Time" (PYT). The stated goal was to erase the Japanese colonial time standard and reclaim pre-colonial Korean time.
On May 5, 2018, North Korea reversed course again, restoring UTC+9 and reinstalling standard Korea Standard Time (KST) for the entire Korean Peninsula, citing a desire for national unity and improved relations with the South.
Did you know?
Things about North Korea's time.
North Korea's timezone is a rare case of a country changing clocks twice (2015 and 2018) for ideological and diplomatic reasons rather than economics or energy savings.
The 2015 UTC+8:30 period was one of only a few national-level uses of a 30-minute offset in the world at the time, putting North Korea in the same category as Nepal (UTC+5:45), India portions (UTC+5:30), and Iran (UTC+3:30).
During the 2015–2018 window, the two Koreas were 30 minutes apart despite sharing the same nominal time zone label (Korea Standard Time / Pyongyang Time) — creating tangible confusion for defectors, cross-border communications, and even Kaesong Industrial Region workers who crossed the DMZ.
North Korea does not observe daylight saving time — neither UTC+8:30 nor UTC+9 — a trend shared with its neighbors China and Japan, both of which also abandoned DST decades ago (1949 and 1951, respectively).
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about North Korea's time zone, daylight saving rules, and how to handle it in software. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].
- What timezone does North Korea use?
- North Korea currently uses Pyongyang Time, UTC+9, the same offset as South Korea (Korea Standard Time). It briefly used UTC+8:30 from 2015 to 2018 for symbolic reasons.
- Did North Korea ever have a different time zone?
- Yes — from August 15, 2015 to May 5, 2018, North Korea operated on UTC+8:30 under the name 'Pyongyang Time.' This was reversed to UTC+9 in 2018.
- Does North Korea observe daylight saving time?
- No. North Korea has never adopted daylight saving time under its current offsets (UTC+8:30 or UTC+9).
- When did North Korea switch back to UTC+9?
- North Korea officially restored UTC+9 on May 5, 2018, aligning again with South Korea for practical and diplomatic reasons.
- How many time zones does North Korea have?
- One. All of North Korea observes a single nationwide time zone—currently UTC+9.
- Is North Korea's timezone the same as South Korea's?
- Currently, yes — both use UTC+9 (KST). From 2015 to 2018, North Korea was 30 minutes behind the South (UTC+8:30 vs. UTC+9).
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