Best hours to call North Korea (+850)
North Korea runs on Korea Standard Time — UTC+9. International calls are extremely restricted; only authorized diplomatic and humanitarian channels have access.
KST (UTC+9), at a glance.
North Korea observes Korea Standard Time at UTC+9 all year. Pyongyang and all provincial capitals share UTC+9.
North Korea against the world's hubs.
Pyongyang is 9 h ahead of London, 1 h ahead of Beijing and 14 h ahead of New York. Seoul and Tokyo are in the same time zone.
Understanding the time difference between the United States and North Korea
Time zone differences across other major countries
Why timing matters for authorized North Korea calls.
For diplomatic missions and humanitarian coordinators with authorized access, calling 9 AM–12 PM KST catches Pyongyang's government office hours before the mandatory afternoon break.
Authorized windows to reach North Korea.
9 AM–12 PM KST for diplomatic and authorized humanitarian calls. From Beijing, that's 8 AM–11 AM — one of the easiest windows for China-based liaison offices.
North Korea runs at +09:00
The zone is Asia/Pyongyang. Every window on this page is worked out from that offset rather than a rule of thumb, so the times shown are the ones that actually apply to North Korea.
No daylight saving
North Korea stays on +09:00 all year. The windows below only move when the caller's own country changes its clocks, not when North Korea does.
Shared hours with 2 of 5 markets
Callers in Mumbai, Sydney share part of the working day with North Korea. The table above gives the exact intersection for each.
Where the gap is too wide
There is no 9-to-5 overlap with New York, Los Angeles, London. Calling North Korea from those cities means someone is working outside normal hours — worth saying so when you book the call.
How to call North Korea using the +850 code.
Dial +850, then 2 (Pyongyang area code), then the subscriber number. Only authorized diplomatic and government channels can route calls to +850.
Number anatomy
Dial exit code
Press + on mobile or 00 from most landlines. This opens an international line.
Enter +850
North Korea's international code. Every call to North Korea must start with +850.
Area prefix
Add the local area or mobile network code — always drop any leading zero used for domestic calls.
Full number
Dial the remaining subscriber digits. Your number is now correctly formatted for international routing.
Best time to call — every country.
Jump to any country's best-time-to-call guide. Search by name, ISO or dial prefix.
Reach North Korea on authorized diplomatic routes.
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When your working day overlaps North Korea
Callers in Mumbai and Sydney share part of the working day with North Korea. There is no shared working window with New York, Los Angeles and London.
| Calling from | North Korea is | Call at (your time) | Which is (their time) |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 14h ahead | No shared working hours — you would need to call outside 9am-5pm | |
| Los Angeles | 17h ahead | No shared working hours — you would need to call outside 9am-5pm | |
| London | 9h ahead | No shared working hours — you would need to call outside 9am-5pm | |
| Mumbai | 3h 30m ahead | 9:00 AM – 1:30 PM | 12:30 PM – 5:00 PM |
| Sydney | 2h behind | 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM | 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM |
Windows are the intersection of a 9am-5pm working day in each place, using North Korea'sstandard-time offset of +09:00. North Korea does not observe daylight saving, so these windows hold all year — though they shift when the caller's own country changes its clocks.
FAQ
Calling North Korea, answered.
Time zone, daylight saving and dialling questions for North Korea (+850).