Post by IceCat on Aug 8, 2015 8:57:51 GMT
Every image you see of North Korea looks like it is trapped in a different era. Well now to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese rule on the 15th the DPRK will literally go back in time...half an hour, to be precise.
Little known fact: the entire peninsula used to be 8.5 hours ahead of GMT before the Japanese took over in 1910, and among the many things Tokyo imposed on their reluctant colony was being in the same time zone (GMT+9). Now in a show of nationalist fervor, which for purely practical reasons the South does not share, Pyongyang Standard Time will come into force. This will put North Korea half an hour behind Japan and South Korea and half an hour closer to their only real friend left in the world, China (GMT+8).
Seriously now, in a country where most of its people struggle to put food on the table, never mind afford a timepiece, will they really care what time it is?
This isn't even an original idea: the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez moved his country half an hour ahead of US EST as well as their bitter rival and neighbor Colombia several years ago.
www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33815049
Kevin
Little known fact: the entire peninsula used to be 8.5 hours ahead of GMT before the Japanese took over in 1910, and among the many things Tokyo imposed on their reluctant colony was being in the same time zone (GMT+9). Now in a show of nationalist fervor, which for purely practical reasons the South does not share, Pyongyang Standard Time will come into force. This will put North Korea half an hour behind Japan and South Korea and half an hour closer to their only real friend left in the world, China (GMT+8).
Seriously now, in a country where most of its people struggle to put food on the table, never mind afford a timepiece, will they really care what time it is?
This isn't even an original idea: the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez moved his country half an hour ahead of US EST as well as their bitter rival and neighbor Colombia several years ago.
www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33815049
Kevin
