South Korea does not observe Daylight Saving Time
Clocks in South Korea stay on KST all year, so there is no spring forward or fall back date.
South Korea stays on KST for the whole year.
Countdown to the next change
Spring transition
Lose an hour of sleep, gain an hour of evening daylight
Autumn transition
Gain an hour of sleep as standard time returns
Longer evenings
Sunset falls an hour later through the summer months
Earlier sunrises
Winter mornings get light sooner once the clocks go back
Did you know?
- Russia experimented with permanent summer time from 2011 to 2014 before settling on permanent standard time.
- The Uniform Time Act of 1966 ended a chaotic period in which US cities set their own clock-change dates, and established a uniform national schedule.
- The European Parliament voted in 2019 to end mandatory clock changes, but member states never agreed on which time to keep, so the change has stalled indefinitely.
Frequently asked questions
When do the clocks change in South Korea in 2025?
They do not. South Korea does not observe Daylight Saving Time.
Which way do the clocks go?
"Spring forward, fall back" is the usual mnemonic: forward one hour in spring, back one hour in autumn.
Do I have to change anything myself?
Phones, computers and anything that syncs over the internet update on their own. Car clocks, ovens, microwaves and older wall clocks generally do not.
Is Daylight Saving Time being scrapped?
It has been proposed in many places and adopted in few. The European Parliament voted in 2019 to end mandatory clock changes and the change has stalled; in the United States the Sunshine Protection Act has repeatedly passed the Senate without becoming law. Most of the world that changes its clocks is still changing them.