North Korea resets clocks to match time zone in the South
Kim Jong Un said "it was painful" to see Pyongyang and Seoul clocks on different times during historic talks with Moon Jae-in.
Monday 30 April 2018 15:57, UK
North Korea will move its clocks half an hour forward to match the time in South Korea.
Kim Jong Un proposed the change during his historic visit across the border last week, the North's state news agency has said,
It is a symbolic step on the road to peace between the two nations, which have been on different times since 2015, when the North's regime was changed to "Pyongyang Time" in what was touted as a break from imperialism.
Kim told South Korean President Moon Jae-in that "it was a painful wrench to see two clocks indicating Pyongyang and Seoul times hanging on a wall" during their summit in the border village of Panmunjom, according to the KCNA agency.
He then added the move is part of a "process" in which they will "turn their different and separate things into the same and single ones".
The move, expected to come into effect on Saturday, will put both countries eight hours ahead of UK time.
The inter-Korean summit on Friday marked the first time in 65 years that the leaders of the two countries have come face to face.
They agreed to end hostile acts along their tense border and to resume the reunions of separated families.
They also agreed to achieve a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, but did not specify a time frame or steps towards disarmament.
South Korea has said it will remove propaganda-broadcasting loudspeakers from its border with the North this week.
Seoul's defence ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyunsoo said they expect Pyongyang to do the same.
South Korea began blasting K-Pop songs and anti-North Korea broadcasts from its loudspeakers after Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test in early 2016.
The North responded by airing its own propaganda announcements from loudspeakers, and by releasing balloons across the border that were carrying anti-South leaflets.
Kim said he will shut down North Korea's only known nuclear testing site, and will allow outside experts and journalists to watch the process.
He is due to meet the US President Donald Trump in the coming weeks but the date and location are yet to have been specified.