North Korea has done many off-the-wall things in the past. Some are meant to defy their enemies, others seem to have no real legitimate purpose. Count this one in the latter.
On August 15th, North Korea will move its clocks back 30 minutes to create a new "Pyongyang Time" in an attempt to stick the Japanese in the eye...or something.
"The wicked Japanese imperialists committed such unpardonable crimes as depriving Korea of even its standard time while mercilessly trampling down its land," the North's official KCNA news agency said.
August 15th marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation from colonial Japan.
Standard time in Korea before the Japanese rule was GMT+8:30 but was altered by the Japanese to reflect their standard time in 1912.
Apparently, the Koreans never forgave the Japanese for this egregious slight.
South Korea went through a similar conversion in 1954. It took a military coup by Park Chung-Hee in 1961 to set things straight. Although, the time change was probably not the main impetus behind the coup.
With a history of strange actions on the part of the North Koreans, this seems like another bizarre occurrence. But on the other hand, does this make any less sense than daylight savings?