South Korea operates on Korea Standard Time (KST), which is 9 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC+9). The entire country follows the same timezone and does not observe daylight saving time, maintaining consistent time year-round.
Major cities including Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Daejeon, and Gwangju all follow KST. South Korea shares its timezone with Japan and parts of Indonesia (East Indonesia Time).
South Korea briefly used "Pyongyang Time" (UTC+8:30) from 1908-1912 before Japanese occupation standardized the peninsula to JST. After liberation in 1945, South Korea adopted UTC+9. South Korea has one of the world's fastest internet speeds and is home to Samsung and Hyundai. The country has the world's highest rate of smartphone ownership.