北韓將時間往後調，以採行「平壤時間」

N. Korea puts back its clocks to adopt ’Pyongyang Time’
　　North Korea announced Friday it was moving its clocks backwards 30 minutes to create a new "Pyongyang Time" -- breaking from a time standard imposed by "wicked" Japanese imperialists more than a century ago.
　　北韓周五宣佈將時間往後挪30分鐘，以建立新的「平壤時間」，藉此破除一個多世紀前，「邪惡的」日本帝國主義者所強加的時間標準。
　　The change will put the standard time in North Korea at GMT+8:30， 30 minutes behind South Korea which， like Japan， is at GMT+9:00.
　　這項改變將使北韓的標準時間成為格林威治標準時間（GMT）加8小時30分，比南韓（與日本一樣）的GMT加9小時慢30分鐘。
　　North Korea said the time change， approved on Wednesday by its rubber-stamp parliament， would come into effect from August 15， which this year marks the 70th anniversary of the Korean peninsula’s liberation from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.
　　北韓指出，這項由其橡皮圖章的國會周三批準的時間改變，將從8月15日生效，以紀念今年朝鮮半島從日本1910至1945年殖民統治解放70周年。
　　"The wicked Japanese imperialists committed such unpardonable crimes as depriving Korea of even its standard time while mercilessly trampling down its land，" the North’s official KCNA news agency said. Standard time in pre-colonial Korea had run at GMT+8:30 but was changed to Japan standard time in 1912.
　　「邪惡的日本帝國主義者犯下如此不可原諒的罪行，在殘酷蹂躪韓國同時，甚至剝奪其標準時間，」北韓官方的「朝鮮中央通信社」報導。殖民前的韓國標準時間為GMT加8小時30分鐘，但在1912年被改為日本標準時間。
　　South Korea had similarly changed its standard time in 1954 -- again to reflect the break from Japanese rule -- but reverted to Japan standard time in 1961 after Park Chung-Hee came to power in a military coup.
　　南韓在1945年同樣更改其標準時間——也是為瞭反映破除日本統治——但在樸正熙軍事政變掌權後，於1961年恢復日本標準時間。
　　Park’s rationale was partly that the two major US allies in the region -- South Korea and Japan -- should operate on the same time to facilitate operational planning. (AFP)
　　樸的基本理由部分在於這兩個美國主要的區域盟邦——南韓與日本——為促進作業性規劃，理應以相同的時間運作。（法新社）