Featured Image Credit: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Images
People have been left stunned after finding out what year it actually is in North Korea after the country ‘re-wrote’ time.
There is a lot that is still unknown about the isolated and secretive regime but after the revelation of North Korea’s calendar began to do the rounds on social media, users have been left shocked.
The discovery was made as the country has quietly switched over to the Gregorian calendar in recent years - which is used by the majority of the world.
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This means that North Korea is now in 2026, although it previously followed a different timeline altogether.
North Korea once followed the Juche calendar with year 1 beginning on the birthday of its former leader, Kim Il-Sung, who was born on April 15, 1912.
Because of this, the country will technically only be in the year 114 as of April this year.
Despite the regime moving over to 2026, it still mostly ideologically identifies the year along with the Juche system.
As the fact has begun to circulate online, many people have taken to social media to share their own reactions to it.
On Reddit, one user wrote: “Day to day this makes as much sense as anything else for them I guess. They aren’t allowed to learn world history so who cares about the years prior and how the rest of us have the timeline.”
Another said: “I mean, we also count the years starting from when some dude was born. The difference is our choice of dude.”
A third person commented: “The north Koreans can also prove without a shadow of doubt that he existed and did some things, though he also has his share of miraculous and supernatural claims.”
And a fourth added: “Japan keeps its own dates too -- it's currently Reiwa 5, for the fifth year of the Reiwa era. As does Taiwan -- also year 1 in 1912, for the founding of the ROC. These types of systems are pretty ubiquitous, and everyone living in North Korea, Japan, and Taiwan still know it's 2024. The local year-keeping is mostly for official or ceremonial purposes.”
In late 2024, NK News reported that North Korea was dropping the Juche calendar in favor of the Gregorian calendar.
Speaking to the outlet, Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said: “Of course, when viewed from a broader perspective, this may also serve to highlight the Kim Jong Un era more distinctly. It could be seen that, to emphasize his status as a leader achieving great accomplishments in this era, it would be better to minimize the connections to the preceding leadership.”
