Time in North Korea
time zone used in North Korea, corresponding to UTC+09:00
Time in North Korea, called Pyongyang Time (PYT; Korean: 평양시간) or Standard Time of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (조선민주주의인민공화국 표준시간; 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國標準時間), is since May 2018 equal to Korea Standard Time: 9 hours ahead of UTC (UTC+09:00). Like South Korea, North Korea does not currently observe daylight saving time. Time keeping in North Korea is under the State Commission for Science and Technology.
History
Before modern clocks were introduced into Korea, Koreans kept time with the help of a sundial during the daytime and a water clock at night. In 1434, Chang Yŏngsil, a Joseon scientist and astronomer with other scientists, developed Korea's first sundial, Angbu Ilgu (앙부일구; 仰釜日晷) and was put into service as standard time-keeper of the kingdom and began the standard time at Hanyang (Seoul) which was calculated to be UTC+08:27:52. In 1442, Chiljeongsan, an astronomical calendar system that was created during the reign of King Sejong used Hanyang (Seoul) local time as its standard as it overcame the limitations of previous-made calendars. The Korean Empire adopted a standard time of 8+1⁄2 hours ahead of UTC (UTC+08:30), which is similar to Pyongyang Standard Time, around the beginning of the 20th century. Some sources claim 1908, others claim 1912 and yet another claims that mean local standard time was used prior to 1908 and that UTC+08:30 was used from 1 April 1908 to 31 December 1911 and again from 21 March 1954 to 9 August 1961. In 1912, the Governor-General of Korea changed the time zone to UTC+09:00 to align with Japan Standard Time.
On 5 August 2015, the North Korean government decided to return to UTC+08:30, effective 15 August 2015, and said the official name would be Pyongyang Time or (PYT).
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Time in North Korea” is time zone used in North Korea, corresponding to UTC+09:00. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Time, North and Korea, not as a finished interpretation.
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