Korea Time Zone Explained: KST and How to Convert

Seoul night skyline seen from a bridge, on the Korea time zone (UTC+9)

South Korea uses a single time zone: Korea Standard Time (KST), UTC+9. There is no daylight saving time, so the Korea time zone offset stays the same all year. KST is identical to Japan Standard Time and one hour ahead of China, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Korea time zone (KST) compared with major cities

CityStandard timeDuring their DSTNoon in Seoul is
New YorkKST −14 hKST −13 h10 pm / 11 pm the previous day
Los AngelesKST −17 hKST −16 h7 pm / 8 pm the previous day
LondonKST −9 hKST −8 h3 am / 4 am
Berlin / ParisKST −8 hKST −7 h4 am / 5 am
Singapore / BeijingKST −1 h— (no DST)11 am
SydneyKST +1 hKST +2 h1 pm / 2 pm

Because Korea does not observe DST, the gap with Europe and North America changes twice a year. From late March to late October the difference to London is 8 hours; the rest of the year it is 9 hours. The difference to Singapore, Beijing and Tokyo never changes.

The date line catches most people

When it is a weekday morning in Seoul, it is still the previous evening on the American west coast. A 9 am Monday meeting in Seoul is 5 pm Sunday in Los Angeles during US standard time. The other way round, a Friday afternoon call from New York lands early Saturday morning in Korea, when banks and offices are closed.

In my experience the safest rule is to write both cities and both dates in every invitation, for example "Tue 10:00 KST / Mon 21:00 EDT". Writing only "10 am your time" is where most missed calls start, especially in the two weeks after a DST change when one side has moved and the other has not.

Best overlap hours for calls

Partner regionGood window (Seoul time)Why
Europe16:00–19:00Their 8–11 am, before Korean offices empty
US East Coast08:00–10:00Their 6–8 pm the previous day
US West Coast08:00–09:00 or 23:00–01:00Their afternoon or their morning
Southeast Asia / China10:00–18:00Only a one-hour gap
Australia (east)09:00–17:00One to two hours ahead of Seoul

Korean office hours are typically 9 am to 6 pm KST, Monday to Friday. Public holidays such as Seollal (Lunar New Year) and Chuseok move every year and often close offices for three or more days, so check the Korean calendar before booking a call in late January, February, September or October.

Related read: Korea Time Zone: Why KST Never Changes (UTC+9)

Summary

  1. Korea is KST, UTC+9, no daylight saving time
  2. Same as Tokyo, one hour ahead of Singapore and Beijing
  3. Gap to Europe and North America shifts by one hour twice a year
  4. US west coast is on the previous calendar day during Seoul mornings
  5. Write both cities and both dates in every meeting invite

To convert any time instantly and see the overlap with Seoul, use the world clock and time difference calculator.

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