President Park Geun-hye has expressed deep regret that North Korea unilaterally decided to create its own time zone without discussing the matter with South Korea.
At a meeting of her senior secretaries today, President Park said she's concerned the time change could further widen the gap between the two Koreas, especially while Seoul tries to narrow the differences ahead of the 70th anniversary of division on the peninsula.
She then criticized the North for going back on efforts to reunite the two Koreas by not responding to the South's proposals for dialogue.
Meanwhile, President Park also expressed sadness over the death of another Korean victim of Japan's wartime sex slavery program... and urged Tokyo to clearly uphold its previous apologies, marking the 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule this week.