North Korea Quits Time Zone of 'Wicked Imperialists'

Country will switch to Pyongyang Time next week
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 7, 2015 2:15 AM CDT
Updated Aug 7, 2015 4:38 AM CDT
N. Korea Quits 'Imperialist' Time Zone
A clock hangs on the wall as North Koreans leave a subway station in Pyongyang, North Korea.    (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

What time it is in Korea will soon depend on which side of the DMZ you are on. North Korea says is abandoning the time zone imposed on it by "wicked Japanese imperialists" in 1910 and creating its own time zone, 8.5 hours ahead of GMT and 30 minutes behind South Korea and Japan, the BBC reports.

The switch to "Pyongyang Time" will happen next week to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of Japanese rule, which North Korea says included "such unpardonable crimes as depriving Korea of even its standard time," the AP reports. (A German man hopped time zones to make his birthday last a record-breaking 46 hours.)

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