By Alex Jensen
SEOUL
North Korea is to shake off a reminder of Japanese colonial rule next week by changing its standard time, according to state media Friday.
The rolling back of time by half-an-hour will come into force on August 15, which is the 70th anniversary of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from imperialist Tokyo.
"The time at 127 degrees 30 minutes east longitude or 30 minutes later than the present one shall be fixed as the standard time," North Korea's KCNA news agency reported.
The move will reflect the country's time zone before it was adjusted during Japan's 1910-45 rule.
"The wicked Japanese imperialists committed such unpardonable crimes as depriving Korea of even its standard time," the KCNA explained.
South Korea recently unveiled its own measures to mark next week's anniversary, albeit not as dramatic -- Seoul's most significant step has been to assign Friday August 14 as a substitute national holiday.
But the South is also pressuring Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to adopt a more repentant attitude towards Tokyo's past abuses, including the sexual enslavement of Korean women.
Opposition to lingering Japanese conservatism over such matters is one of the few points that both Koreas can agree on.
But Pyongyang Standard Time may cause further problems now and in the future, with Seoul staying 30 minutes ahead.
Timetables at the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex will be an area of immediate concern, but the South Korean government has also highlighted long-term issues.
"It could negatively affect inter-Korean integration, standard consolidation and efforts to recover the homogeneity of the South and North," Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee told reporters.
As for whether South Korea could also move back in time, Jeong emphasized the daylight savings benefits as things are.
