Pyongyang, Aug 7 (IANS): North Korea is scheduled to set its clocks back by 30 minutes to "Pyongyang time" on August 15 -- the 70th anniversary of liberation from Japan -- thus creating a personal time zone, media reports said on Friday.

That will reset the time to GMT 08:30, as it was before Japanese colonisation, CNN reported citing North Korean KCNA news agency.

"The wicked Japanese imperialists committed such unpardonable crimes as depriving Korea of even its standard time while mercilessly trampling down its land with 5,000-year-long history and culture and pursuing the unheard-of policy of obliterating the Korean nation," KCNA reported on Friday.

North Koreans already have their own calendar. Instead of counting from the birth of Christ, they count from the birth of founding leader, Kim Il Sung. Kim was born in 1912 -- known in North Korea as Juche 1, making this year Juche 104.

The new time will put Pyongyang half an hour behind Tokyo and Seoul.

North Korean Liberation Day -- also known as Gwangbokjeol and commemorating victory over Japan -- is celebrated annually on August 15 when Korea was liberated from colonial rule in 1945.