Asia · Eastern Asia · Sovereign state
Current time in South Korea
A single time zone at UTC+09:00.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
About South Korea's time
A single time zone.
South Korea uses a single timezone, Korean Standard Time (UTC+09:00), applied uniformly across the entire peninsula including Seoul and the surrounding regions. The country does not observe daylight saving time.
Major cities
Cities of South Korea.
History
How South Korea keeps time.
Korea's timezone history bears the deep imprint of colonial rule. Korea first adopted a standard time of UTC+08:30 in 1908. During the Japanese occupation (1910 to 1945), clocks were moved to Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00) from 1912. After liberation in 1945, the UTC+09:00 offset stayed in place, now called Korean Standard Time.
In 1954, South Korea moved its clocks back to UTC+08:30 to break with the colonial-era offset, then returned to UTC+09:00 in August 1961, where it has stayed. Daylight saving time was used in the summers of 1948 to 1951 and 1955 to 1960, and again in 1987 and 1988 around the Seoul Summer Olympics, but not since.
Did you know?
Things about South Korea's time.
Although South Korea has only one timezone, the division between North and South creates an interesting situation. North Korea moved its clocks to UTC+08:30 (Pyongyang Time) in August 2015, then returned to UTC+09:00 in May 2018 to match the South. For nearly three years, the two Koreas were 30 minutes apart.
Convert
South Korea to the world's clocks.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about South Korea's time zone, daylight saving rules, and how to handle it in software. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].
- Does South Korea use daylight saving time?
- No, South Korea does not observe daylight saving time and is on KST (UTC+09:00) all year round.
- Is South Korea ahead or behind Japan?
- Japan and South Korea are in the same UTC+09:00 time zone. They share the same time despite using different names (KST and JST).
- Can I use my South Korean phone clock when traveling to North Korea?
- Since 2018, both North and South Korea use UTC+09:00 again, so your clock will read the correct local time in Pyongyang as well as Seoul.
- What time does the workday start in Korean business culture?
- Standard business hours in South Korea are 9 AM to 6 PM KST, though many workers start earlier or stay later.
- Are there any regions in South Korea with a different timezone?
- No, the entire country uses a single timezone (UTC+09:00). Even offshore islands like Jeju Island follow KST.
- How does South Korea's time compare to China?
- South Korea is 1 hour ahead of China. China uses UTC+08:00 nationwide, while South Korea and Japan both use UTC+09:00.
- Does the Korean timezone account for solar time?
- Not exactly. UTC+09:00 is based on the 135°E meridian, but Seoul lies near 127°E, so the sun reaches its highest point around 12:30 PM, about half an hour later than the clock suggests.
Source: IANA tzdb2026d · Reviewed
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