Apple’s iOS 9 Operating System Shows Different Time Zones Between Seoul And Pyongyang

As Apple released the iOS 9 on Sept. 16, devices running on the latest Apple operating system showed Seoul time separately from Pyongyang time.

According to CNN News on Aug. 13, North Korea announced that they are setting back Pyongyang time by 30 minutes from Seoul and Tokyo starting Aug. 15, which marked the country's seventieth anniversary of being liberated from Japan.

"The wicked Japanese imperialists committed such unpardonable crimes as depriving Korea of even its standard time," said North Korean news agency KCNA, "while mercilessly trampling down its land with 5,000 year-long history and culture and pursuing the unheard-of policy of obliterating the Korean nation."

Chosun Media noted Monday that by changing Pyongyang time, North Korea has joined other countries dismissing the conventional GMT +/- full hours, which includes Iran and India.

Most countries have their times set in one-hour increments as half-hour increments often cause difficulties in exchanging data for meteorology, aviation and maritime navigation.

South Korean President Park Geun Hye considered North Korea's move to change Pyongyang time 30 minutes back as an act that "goes against efforts to promote inter-Korean cooperation and peace."

Industry experts comment that Apple's move to provide separate time zones for Seoul and Pyongyang on the iOS 9 is the company's way of recognizing the notable number of North Korean Apple users.

South Korea reportedly made the same move of turning back their time by 30 minutes in 1954 until 1961. Politician Cho Mung Chol passed a bill in parliament in 2013 to revert the change as the country regains their control from Japanese imperialism.

South Korean Unification Ministry Spokesman Jeong Joon Hee, on the other hand, acknowledges that Seoul time is as it is due to practical matters and is not based on colonial history.