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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/29/nor...-souths-time-zone-in-reconciliatory-move.html
North Korea is shifting its time zone 30 minutes to align with South Korea's
KCNA | Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches the launch of his country's own Hwasong-12 missile in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 16, 2017.
North Korea will shift its time zone 30 minutes earlier to align with South Korea starting May 5 "as a first practical step for national reconciliation and unity," the North's state media said Monday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said it was "a painful wrench" to see two clocks showing different Pyongyang and Seoul times on a wall at the summit venue during the historic meeting Friday with President Moon Jae-in, KCNA said.
Meanwhile, China will send the government's top diplomat, Wang Yi, to visit North Korea on Wednesday and Thursday this week, the foreign ministry said on Monday.
The time change report confirmed news from South Korean officials on Sunday that Kim pledged to scrap the northern time zone, which was created in 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese rule after World War Two.
South Korea and Japan are in the same time zone, nine hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.
"It is not an abstract meaning that the north and the south become one but it is just a process in which the north and the south turn their different and separated things into the same and single ones," Kim said, according to the dispatch.
At their summit Friday, Kim and Moon declared they would take steps to formally end the 1950 53 Korean War, which ended only with a truce, and work towards the "denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula. The declaration didn't offer any specifics on what that meant or how it would progress.
Much now hinges on Kim's upcoming summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, who said the meeting could happen over the next three to four weeks. No location has been announced.
Kim also told Moon he would soon invite experts and journalists from the United States and South Korea when the country dismantles its Punggye-ri nuclear testing site, the Blue House said on Sunday.
North Korea has conducted all six of its nuclear tests at the site, a series of tunnels dug into the mountains in the northeastern part of the country. Some experts and researchers have speculated that the most recent — and by far largest — blast in September had rendered the entire site unusable.
But Kim said there were two additional, larger tunnels that remain "in very good condition" beyond the existing one, which experts believe may have collapsed.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday he told Kim during their secret meeting at the beginning of April that North Korea would have to agree to take "irreversible" steps toward shutting its nuclear weapons program in any deal with the United States.
by Taboola
MORE FROM CNBC
https://www.rt.com/news/425494-korea-clock-one-time-may/
North Korea will merge time zones with South starting May 5
Published time: 30 Apr, 2018 01:30 Edited time: 30 Apr, 2018 08:38
Get short URL
A man walking past a clock shop is reflected on a glass wall at a electronics market in Seoul, South Korea, June 8, 2016. © Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters
The decision to return to the same time is one of the many symbolic highlights of the historic Friday summit between North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The state-run KCNA agency reported that Kim said it was a “painful wrench” for him to see the two clocks hanging above the negotiation table at ‘Peace Village’ in Panmunjeom showing a different time.
Read more
‘He is my idol’: Duterte cheers N. Korea’s Kim despite branding him ‘maniac’ earlier
The gesture should pave the way for rapprochement between the North and the South, and serve as “the first practical step for national reconciliation and unity,” according to Kim, as cited by KCNA.
On Monday, North Korea’s Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, the highest state body between the assembly’s sessions, voted to adopt a decree codifying the changes that will take effect on May 5.
At present, North Korea’s time is lagging 30 minutes behind that of South Korea. North Korea introduced its own “Pyongyang time” in August 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of liberation from the Japanese rule. The time, which will be now shared by the two Koreas, was set by Japan, which ruled the peninsula from 1910 to 1945, to coincide with its own.
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North Korea is shifting its time zone 30 minutes to align with South Korea's
- North Korea will shift its time zone 30 minutes earlier to align with South Korea starting May 5 "as a first practical step for national reconciliation and unity," the North's state media said.
- South Korea and Japan are in the same time zone, nine hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.
KCNA | Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches the launch of his country's own Hwasong-12 missile in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 16, 2017.
North Korea will shift its time zone 30 minutes earlier to align with South Korea starting May 5 "as a first practical step for national reconciliation and unity," the North's state media said Monday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said it was "a painful wrench" to see two clocks showing different Pyongyang and Seoul times on a wall at the summit venue during the historic meeting Friday with President Moon Jae-in, KCNA said.
Meanwhile, China will send the government's top diplomat, Wang Yi, to visit North Korea on Wednesday and Thursday this week, the foreign ministry said on Monday.
The time change report confirmed news from South Korean officials on Sunday that Kim pledged to scrap the northern time zone, which was created in 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese rule after World War Two.
South Korea and Japan are in the same time zone, nine hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.
"It is not an abstract meaning that the north and the south become one but it is just a process in which the north and the south turn their different and separated things into the same and single ones," Kim said, according to the dispatch.
At their summit Friday, Kim and Moon declared they would take steps to formally end the 1950 53 Korean War, which ended only with a truce, and work towards the "denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula. The declaration didn't offer any specifics on what that meant or how it would progress.
Much now hinges on Kim's upcoming summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, who said the meeting could happen over the next three to four weeks. No location has been announced.
Kim also told Moon he would soon invite experts and journalists from the United States and South Korea when the country dismantles its Punggye-ri nuclear testing site, the Blue House said on Sunday.
North Korea has conducted all six of its nuclear tests at the site, a series of tunnels dug into the mountains in the northeastern part of the country. Some experts and researchers have speculated that the most recent — and by far largest — blast in September had rendered the entire site unusable.
But Kim said there were two additional, larger tunnels that remain "in very good condition" beyond the existing one, which experts believe may have collapsed.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday he told Kim during their secret meeting at the beginning of April that North Korea would have to agree to take "irreversible" steps toward shutting its nuclear weapons program in any deal with the United States.
by Taboola
MORE FROM CNBC
https://www.rt.com/news/425494-korea-clock-one-time-may/
North Korea will merge time zones with South starting May 5
Published time: 30 Apr, 2018 01:30 Edited time: 30 Apr, 2018 08:38
Get short URL
A man walking past a clock shop is reflected on a glass wall at a electronics market in Seoul, South Korea, June 8, 2016. © Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters
- 2982
The decision to return to the same time is one of the many symbolic highlights of the historic Friday summit between North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The state-run KCNA agency reported that Kim said it was a “painful wrench” for him to see the two clocks hanging above the negotiation table at ‘Peace Village’ in Panmunjeom showing a different time.
Read more
‘He is my idol’: Duterte cheers N. Korea’s Kim despite branding him ‘maniac’ earlier
The gesture should pave the way for rapprochement between the North and the South, and serve as “the first practical step for national reconciliation and unity,” according to Kim, as cited by KCNA.
On Monday, North Korea’s Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, the highest state body between the assembly’s sessions, voted to adopt a decree codifying the changes that will take effect on May 5.
At present, North Korea’s time is lagging 30 minutes behind that of South Korea. North Korea introduced its own “Pyongyang time” in August 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of liberation from the Japanese rule. The time, which will be now shared by the two Koreas, was set by Japan, which ruled the peninsula from 1910 to 1945, to coincide with its own.
If you like this story, share it with a friend!
