Left: Seoul; Right: Pyongyang. Clocks in meeting room at the Peace House in Panmunjom

I came across the news that, with effect from this Saturday, there will be a synchronization of North and South Korean time zones.

Time for Change

On 5th May 2018, North Korea will move its time zone 30 minutes ahead and synchronise its time zone with South Korea again. After the change, both North and South Korea will be GMT+9.

This was offered by the Kim Jong-un, North Korea's leader, during the North-South Korean meeting on 27th April.

Before 2015, both countries had the same time zone, but North Korea unilaterally switched to a new time zone with effect from 15 August 2015 to mark its liberation from the Japanese at the end of WW2. The North Korean state news agency had reported that the "wicked Japanese imperialists" had "deprived Korea of even its standard time" by changing the clocks during occupation."

A Symbolic Gesture

The fact that North and South Korea functioned under two slightly different time zones is a very striking reminder of the difference between the two countries. In reality, shifting the time zone by 30 minutes does not change how things function by much. A lot of countries change their clocks by 1 hour for Daylight Saving.

But seeing that North Korea could change their time zone so easily and without much concern just serves to reinforce how secluded it was and is, not just from South Korea but to other surrounding countries. Since there are very few cross-border ties - business or otherwise - to be concerned about, changing the time zone in North Korea is far less troublesome than in another more connected country.

Likewise, it's not as difficult to change the clocks back. Even though it's an easy move to make, as a symbolic gesture, the act of synchronizing the time zones has far more influence. That the offer was made by Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader adds additional meaning to the gesture; it seems to say that North Korea is reaching out to the world again after decades of self-imposed seclusion.

As a political move, it's genius.

What's Happening Behind the Scenes?

What's not clear at this point is why all this is happening. With time, we will have a clearer idea about the motivations for the sudden peace efforts. I do hope to find out some day!