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N. Korea to push back its standard time by 30 minutes

August 6, 2015
In this Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014, file photo, a hotel staff member stands at a reception desk of a hotel, decorated with a map of the world on the wall, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Fresh off a drastic, half-year ban that closed North Korea’s doors to virtually all foreigners over fears they would spread the Ebola virus - despite the fact that there were no cases of Ebola reported anywhere in Asia - the country is once again determined to show off its "socialist fairyland" to tourists. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

In this Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014, file photo, a hotel staff member stands at a reception desk of a hotel, decorated with a map of the world on the wall, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Fresh off a drastic, half-year ban that closed North Korea’s doors to virtually all foreigners over fears they would spread the Ebola virus – despite the fact that there were no cases of Ebola reported anywhere in Asia – the country is once again determined to show off its “socialist fairyland” to tourists. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

North Korea announced that it plans to push back its standard time by 30 minutes as a celebratory move after the 70th anniversary of Korean independence on Aug. 15.

“The wicked Japanese imperialists committed such unpardonable crimes as depriving Korea of even its standard time,” the country’s official media mouthpiece Korean Central News Agency said.

The North is referring to the Japanese colonization of the Korean peninsula from 1910-1945.

Both Koreas are under identical standard times, but after the move the North will be 30 minutes behind its southern counterpart.

“The time at 127 degrees 30 minutes east longitude or 30 minutes later than the present one shall be fixed as the standard time of the DPRK and called Pyongyang time,” the newspaper wrote.