Namp’o, North Korea · UTC+9 ☆

Namp’o is in the Korea Standard Time timezone (KST/UTC+9). North Korea returned to this offset in 2018 after three years on its own half-hour offset.

Namp’o is North Korea’s principal port, sitting on the Yellow Sea coast at the mouth of the Taedong River, 50 kilometers southwest of Pyongyang. Most of the country’s seaborne trade flows through here. The West Sea Barrage, an 8-kilometer system of dams, three lock chambers, and 36 sluices built across the Taedong estuary, was constructed from 1981 to 1986 using the resources of the whole country directed to this main construction project.[3] It regulates the tidal range and provides fresh water storage.

North Korea uses Korean Standard Time, UTC+9, which it shares with South Korea and Japan. This wasn’t always the case. In 2015, North Korea moved its clocks back 30 minutes to create “Pyongyang Time” at UTC+8:30, explicitly framing the change as rejecting the timezone imposed by Japanese colonialism.[4] In 2018, before the inter-Korean summit, Kim Jong-un ordered the clocks moved forward again to align with Seoul.

Pyongyang Time and a political clock

At 38 degrees north, Namp’o experiences real seasons. Summer days approach 14.5 hours of daylight. Winter days shorten to under 10. The tidal flat agriculture and fishing activities around the port area operate on schedules shaped as much by season and tide as by the clock.

Information from Namp’o is scarce, like most of North Korea. What’s known comes from satellite imagery, defector accounts, and the occasional state media release. The port’s activity levels fluctuate with sanctions and diplomatic conditions.

9am in Namp’o is 12am in London, the same offset as Pyongyang.

Read more about time in North Korea →