Special to WorldTribune.com

In a clear shot propaganda offensives aimed at its former Japanese colonial rulers, North Korea on Aug. 7 announced that it would turn back its clocks by 30 minutes next week to create its own unique time zone.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the establishment of “Pyongyang time” was aimed at the legacy of the Japanese colonial period between 1910 and 1945. The new time zone will officially go into effect on Aug. 15 – the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese rule at the end World War II.

“The wicked Japanese imperialists committed such unpardonable crimes as depriving Korea of even its standard time 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,” the KCNA report said.

North Korea’s move will likely please its Chinese overlords who have been conducting a propaganda offensive against Japan as it seeks to expand its maritime clout in the region. It is also likely aimed at South Koreans many of whom are old enough to remember the Japanese occupation.

Many Koreans to this day deeply resent Japan’s occupation. Hundreds of thousands of Koreans were forced to fight as frontline soldiers, work in slave-labor conditions or serve as prostitutes in brothels operated by the Japanese military during WWII.

South Korea will remain in the same time zone as Japan, as Seoul enjoys harmonious and lucrative relations with the international community.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said on Aug. 7 that the North’s shift to “Pyongyang Time” could result in minor disruptions at a jointly run industrial park at the North Korean border city of Kaesong.

  In shot at Japan, North Korea creates its own time zone, Pyongyang Time, World War II, WorldTribune.com