North Korea creates new time zoneAugust 7, 2015 - 09:03 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - North Korea is to switch to a new time zone to mark its liberation from the Japanese at the end of World War Two, state media said, according to BBC News. North Korea is currently in the same time zone as South Korea and Japan, which are nine hours ahead of GMT. But Pyongyang Time will see the clocks put back by 30 minutes on August 15. State news agency KCNA said "wicked Japanese imperialists" had "deprived Korea of even its standard time" by changing the clocks during occupation. The entire Korean peninsula - then one country - was 8.5 hours ahead of GMT until Japan colonized it in 1910. KCNA quoted officials as saying the decision to adopt Pyongyang Time reflected "the unshakeable faith and will of the service personnel and people on the 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation". South Korea said the move could cause some short-term inconvenience at the Kaesong industrial plant in North Korea, jointly run by the two Koreas. "And in the longer term, there may be some fallout for efforts to unify standards and reduce differences between the two sides," Unification Ministry official Jeong Joon-Hee said. There is no international body that approves a country's change of time zone as countries decide for themselves. In 2011, Samoa changed its time zone to the other side of the international dateline, losing one day, so as to make communication easier with neighbors Australia and New Zealand. North Korea is not the only country that has created its own unique time zone. In 2007, Venezuela decided to turn its clocks back by half an hour as President Hugo Chavez wanted to have a "more fair distribution of the sunrise" to residents. Venezuela is now the only country with a time zone 4.5 hours behind GMT. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. Yerevan reacts to Baku’s proposal to see Minsk Group abolition Alen Simonyan has declared that Armenia is taking steps aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. |