**Eastern Time Zone Difference with Korea Changes from 14 to 13 Hours**
A man adjusts the clock hands to mark the start of daylight saving time. [EPA=Yonhap News]
Daylight saving time (DST) will begin in the United States from the 9th (local time). In most areas of the U.S., clocks will be moved forward by one hour from 2 AM to 3 AM on the 9th.
As a result, the time difference with Korea will be reduced by one hour. Based on Eastern Standard Time, the difference will go from 14 hours to 13 hours, and based on Pacific Standard Time, it will be reduced from 17 hours to 16 hours.
This year’s daylight saving time will end on November 2. In the U.S., daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November each year in accordance with federal law.
Daylight saving time is a system that moves the clock forward by an hour to delay sunset during the long days of summer. The idea is to save energy and promote economic activity. It is applied in all regions of the United States except Arizona, Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
The controversy over whether to keep DST continues unabated. The inconvenience of adjusting the clocks twice a year, the social costs, and health issues due to changes in sleep schedules are among the reasons for its abolition.
The U.S. Senate passed the so-called “Sunshine Protection Act,” which would make DST permanent, in March 2022, but it was not passed in the House and thus expired automatically. Since then, attempts to abolish DST at the congressional level have repeatedly failed.
However, former President Donald Trump’s announcement late last year, before his second-term inauguration, to push for the abolition of DST has drawn attention.
On December 13 last year, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “The Republican Party will do its best to eliminate daylight saving time,” pointing out that “daylight saving time is inconvenient and costly for the nation.”
Daylight saving time is implemented in over 70 countries worldwide, outside of the United States.
Europe will adjust its clocks starting on the 30th. After that, the time difference with Korea will be reduced from 8 hours to 7 hours based on Central European Time (CET). CET is used in major European countries such as Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Poland.
The European Union (EU) starts daylight saving time on the last Sunday of March and ends it on the last Sunday of October, and like in the United States, there is considerable public opposition to DST.