North Korea to set clocks back by 30 minutes on August 15

Baku. 7 August. REPORT.AZ/ North Korea is to switch to a new time zone by putting its clocks back by half an hour, Report informs citing foreign media.

The secretive country will put its clocks back by 30 minutes from next Saturday.

Its state news agency KCNA said Korea's standard time had been changed during occupation by "wicked Japanese imperialists".

North Korea is currently nine hours ahead of GMT and in the same time zone as neighbouring South Korea and Japan.

The move has led to concerns that efforts to reduce tensions between North and South Korea could be hampered by the move.

It could affect work at North Korea's Kaesong industrial plant which is run by both countries.