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BlogHow it works

Current Time in Seoul

The clock shows the time in Seoul now, to the second. South Korea uses Korea Standard Time (KST), UTC+9, all year.

Current time in Seoul

IANA zone
Current time in Seoul

In short

  1. 1Seoul is on KST, UTC+9, every day of the year.
  2. 2Tokyo shares the clock; Beijing, Taipei and Manila are one hour behind.
  3. 3The gap to Europe and North America changes only when they move their clocks.

Korea Standard Time

South Korea has used UTC+9 since 1961, after a few years on UTC+8:30. Summer time was last used in 1987 and 1988, partly so that Olympic events would air at good hours in the United States. Since then KST has not moved.

The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) keeps the national time standard and offers it over the internet.

Because Korea keeps one offset all year, travel and calls inside East Asia are easy to plan: Tokyo always matches Seoul, while Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei are always one hour behind.

IANA zone
Asia/Seoul
Standard time
KST · UTC+9
Daylight saving time
Not observed

Seoul against world cities

CityIn JanuaryIn July
Honolulu−19−19
Anchorage−18−17
Seattle−17−16
Denver−16−15
Vancouver−16−16
Houston−15−14
Lima−14−14
Toronto−14−13
Washington, D.C.−14−13
Buenos Aires−12−12
São Paulo−12−12
London−9−8
Amsterdam−8−7
Berlin−8−7
Madrid−8−7
Paris−8−7
Zurich−8−7
Athens−7−6
Cairo−7−6
Johannesburg−7−7
Doha−6−6
Nairobi−6−6
Riyadh−6−6
Dubai−5−5
Delhi−3:30−3:30
Dhaka−3−3
Ho Chi Minh City−2−2
Kuala Lumpur−1−1
Manila−1−1
Perth−1−1
Shanghai−1−1
Taipei−1−1
Brisbane+1+1
Melbourne+2+1
Sydney+2+1

Hours to add to the time in Seoul; a minus sign means the other city is behind

Fixed at UTC+9, Seoul is nine hours ahead of London in winter and eight in summer, and fourteen ahead of New York in winter and thirteen in summer. In the southern hemisphere, Sydney is two hours ahead of Seoul in January and one hour ahead in July.

The Korean peninsula is split today. North Korea moved to UTC+8:30 in 2015 and returned to UTC+9 in 2018, so Seoul and Pyongyang now share the same clock again.

Seoul's geography puts it slightly west of the 135° east meridian that defines UTC+9, so the sun is overhead around 12:30 PM on the clock. Winter sunrises come close to 7:45 AM, and summer sunsets near 8:00 PM.

Seoul time questions

What time zone is Seoul in?

Korea Standard Time, UTC+9. It is the same offset as Tokyo.

Does South Korea have daylight saving time?

No. It last used summer time in 1987 and 1988, around the Seoul Olympics.

How many hours is Seoul ahead of New York?

Fourteen hours during US standard time and thirteen during US daylight time.

Is Seoul ahead of Beijing?

Yes, by one hour all year.

What is the difference between Seoul and London?

Nine hours in winter and eight hours when the UK is on BST.