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South and North Korea communicated on Tuesday under their unified time zone for the first time in nearly three years, a unification ministry official said.
The North called South Korean officials through the liaison office established at the truce village of Panmunjom at 9:03 a.m., the official said on condition of anonymity.
"This appears to be a follow-up on the North's announcement to return to the unified time zone effective on May 5," he told reporters on condition of anonymity. "Now we see an end to the abnormal situations that have been caused by the difference in standard times,"
North Korea decided to push back its standard time by 30 minutes in August 2015, claiming the move was aimed at removing a vestige of Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. The two Koreas previously used an identical standard time set during the period.
During a summit with President Moon Jae-in last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also mentioned the decision to move its clock back to the same time as the South.
The North's Korean Central News Agency recently quoted the North's leader as saying that unifying the time zone is "the first practical step for national reconciliation and unity."
Asked if there was a "meaningful" message the North conveyed through the latest communication, the official said he has no information on that.
Meanwhile, with regard to media reports that a high-ranking North Korean official has visited China, he said the government is paying close attention to the development but said there is nothing he could confirm. Speculation lingers that the official could be North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The reports came as North Korea and the United States are preparing to hold their unprecedented summit talks that will likely deal with the North's denuclearization as a major issue.
The North Korean leader made a secret visit to Beijing in March during which he met Chinese President Xi Jinping before he was to hold a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in late April. (Yonhap)
