EST to KST

Korea Standard Time is 13 hours ahead of Eastern Time for 238 days of the year, and takes 2 different values across the year.

EST to KST conversion table

Every hour of the day at the difference that holds for 238 days of 2026 — 13 hours. See “When the difference changes” below for the rest.

EST to KST, hours 00:00–11:00
ESTKST
12:00 AM1:00 PM
1:00 AM2:00 PM
2:00 AM3:00 PM
3:00 AM4:00 PM
4:00 AM5:00 PM
5:00 AM6:00 PM
6:00 AM7:00 PM
7:00 AM8:00 PM
8:00 AM9:00 PM
9:00 AM10:00 PM
10:00 AM11:00 PM
11:00 AM12:00 AM +1 day
EST to KST, hours 12:00–23:00
ESTKST
12:00 PM1:00 AM +1 day
1:00 PM2:00 AM +1 day
2:00 PM3:00 AM +1 day
3:00 PM4:00 AM +1 day
4:00 PM5:00 AM +1 day
5:00 PM6:00 AM +1 day
6:00 PM7:00 AM +1 day
7:00 PM8:00 AM +1 day
8:00 PM9:00 AM +1 day
9:00 PM10:00 AM +1 day
10:00 PM11:00 AM +1 day
11:00 PM12:00 PM +1 day

Shared working hours

They do not overlap at all. A 09:00–17:00 working day in Eastern Time ends 3 hours before the Korea Standard Time one begins, so any live call sits outside somebody's working hours.

The shortest reach is the edges: early morning in EST against late evening in KST, or the other way round.

When the difference changes

The two zones move their clocks on different dates, so the gap takes more than one value. These are the stretches of 2026:

DatesKST isWhy
31 December – 8 March14 hours ahead of
8 March – 1 November13 hours ahead ofEastern Time clocks go forward one hour
1 November – 31 December14 hours ahead ofEastern Time clocks go back one hour

Dates are Eastern Time local dates for 2026. Transition dates move by a few days from year to year; the rule each country follows does not.

About Eastern Time

Eastern Time is the most populous North American zone and the one most business hours are quoted in. It is UTC−5 as EST and UTC−4 as EDT. Because it changes on US dates rather than European ones, its gap to London and to Central Europe is not constant — there are two short stretches each year when it is an hour narrower than usual, and they are the reason this pair's table has more than one row.

Cities on this clock: New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Miami, Atlanta, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa.

About Korea Standard Time

Korea is a fixed UTC+9, the same clock as Japan. Daylight saving was last used for the 1988 Olympics and has not returned.

Cities on this clock: Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul.

How the difference is worked out

The gap between Eastern Time and Korea Standard Time is not one number. The two zones change their clocks on different dates, so for part of the year the difference is 13 hours and for the rest it is something else — the table above lists each stretch of 2026 with the date it starts and which country's clocks moved.

With both zones on their own standard time — daylight saving not in force anywhere — Korea Standard Time is 14 hours ahead of Eastern Time. That figure never changes; everything else on this page follows from it plus whichever clocks have moved.

Every figure here comes from the IANA time zone database via your browser's own Intl engine, using the zone ids America/New_York and Asia/Seoul. Nothing is looked up on a server and nothing about your visit is recorded.

Is KST ahead of or behind EST?

Korea Standard Time is 13 hours ahead of Eastern Time for 238 days of the year, and takes 2 different values across the year. The gap moves because the two zones change their clocks on different dates — on 8 March, Eastern Time clocks go forward one hour; on 1 November, Eastern Time clocks go back one hour (dates for 2026).

What time is 9 AM EST in KST?

9:00 AM EST is 10:00 PM KST for most of the year — see the table above for the 3 stretches of 2026 the gap holds different values.

When can Eastern Time and Korea Standard Time meet?

They do not overlap. A 09:00–17:00 working day in Eastern Time ends 3 hours before the Korea Standard Time one begins, so a call has to sit outside someone's working hours — early morning in Eastern Time or late evening in Korea Standard Time is usually the shortest reach.

What does EST stand for?

EST is Eastern Time, also written EDT, Eastern Time, New York time. Eastern Time is the most populous North American zone and the one most business hours are quoted in. It is UTC−5 as EST and UTC−4 as EDT. Because it changes on US dates rather than European ones, its gap to London and to Central Europe is not constant — there are two short stretches each year when it is an hour narrower than usual, and they are the reason this pair's table has more than one row.

This site is vibe coded. The tools here were built largely by AI, so treat what they tell you as a starting point rather than an answer — double-check anything that matters before you rely on it.

Crunchify.net — 98 free tools, no ads, no tracking.