1988
DST timeline
Daylight saving time in South Korea has 2 recorded changes on record, spanning 1988–1989. The earliest documented event is the modification in 1988: South Korea used daylight saving time for the Seoul Summer Olympics schedule. The most recent is the abolition in 1989: South Korea returned to year-round Korea Standard Time after the Olympic-period DST use. Across this history, South Korea recorded 0 adoptions and 1 abolition of the clock change, reflecting how often the policy was revisited. As of the latest data, South Korea is shown as "Abolished" in our daylight saving tracker, which is the practical takeaway for anyone scheduling calls, travel, or deliveries against this region today.
South Korea returned to year-round Korea Standard Time after the Olympic-period DST use.
Each entry records a distinct daylight saving milestone for South Korea. An adoption marks the year clocks first began shifting; an abolition marks the year the country stopped changing them and settled on a single year-round offset; a modification covers changes to the start or end dates, the size of the shift, or which regions take part; and a reform vote records a legislative or parliamentary decision that may not yet be in force. Years reflect when the change took effect, not when it was announced, so a 2019 vote and a later effective date can both appear.
Daylight saving rules change more often than most people expect, and historical offsets are exactly the detail that breaks date math for past timestamps, travel records, and historical scheduling. If you only need today’s behaviour for South Korea, the current-status link above is the fastest answer; if you are reconstructing a past date or comparing several countries, the full timeline and the linked sources below give you the authoritative record.