Best Meeting Time: Seoul to London
🕐 Live Timezone Overlap: Seoul & London
Seoul and London sit 8 hours apart, which makes finding a shared working slot genuinely difficult. With London behind Seoul by 8 hours, the two cities share only 1 hour of overlap within a standard 9am to 6pm working day. That single hour falls at 5pm to 6pm in Seoul and 9am to 10am in London. Both teams need to plan carefully; Seoul colleagues are nearing the end of their day while London colleagues are just starting.
Time Difference: Seoul and London
London is currently 8 hours behind Seoul. The live offsets are Seoul UTC+9 and London UTC+1. Seoul does not observe daylight saving and London observes daylight saving, so the offset shifts twice a year if both sides aren't already aligned.
Seoul runs UTC+9 year-round. South Korea does not observe DST, so Seoul's offset never changes. London currently sits at UTC+1, observing British Summer Time. In winter, London reverts to UTC+0, which pushes the gap from 8 hours to 9 hours. That shift happens twice a year and affects every standing meeting between Seoul and London, so calendar invites should always display local times rather than fixed hour offsets.
Best Times to Meet
The 1-hour overlap runs from 9am to 10am London time, which is 5pm to 6pm in Seoul. Inside that 1-hour window, the cleanest slot is typically 9am to 9:30am London time, catching Seoul participants before they finish for the day. One caution: Seoul working days can extend past 6pm in many firms, but late Friday meetings in Seoul are uncommon. London participants should also note that the City often aligns to afternoon financial schedules, so mornings tend to be more available.
Working Hours Overlap Explained
Seoul operates on Asia/Seoul (currently UTC+9). London operates on Europe/London (currently UTC+1). The table below maps a standard 9:00 AM–6:00 PM day in Seoul to London's local time.
| Seoul time | London time | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 AM | 1:00 AM | London outside hours |
| 10:00 AM | 2:00 AM | London outside hours |
| 11:00 AM | 3:00 AM | London outside hours |
| 12:00 PM | 4:00 AM | London outside hours |
| 1:00 PM | 5:00 AM | London outside hours |
| 2:00 PM | 6:00 AM | London outside hours |
| 3:00 PM | 7:00 AM | London outside hours |
| 4:00 PM | 8:00 AM | London just starting |
| 5:00 PM | 9:00 AM | London in business hours |
| 6:00 PM | 10:00 AM | London in business hours |
Tips for Scheduling Across Seoul and London
- Book Seoul-London calls for 9am to 9:30am London time; that keeps Seoul participants within their working day.
- Seoul's clocks never change, but London's do. Audit all recurring invites each time UK clocks shift.
- Avoid scheduling across Seoul during Seollal or Chuseok; expect 3 to 4 consecutive days of unavailability.
- Late Friday calls rarely suit Seoul. Business meetings that day are uncommon due to end-of-week team gatherings.
- In winter London reverts to UTC+0, making the Seoul gap 9 hours and eliminating the standard overlap entirely.
Public Holidays and Working Weeks
Both cities work a Monday to Friday week with 9am to 6pm as the standard window. Seoul observes Seollal in January or February and Chuseok in September or October, each bringing 3 to 4 days of national closures. London's key dates include the May Bank Holiday and Christmas Day on 25 December. Any meeting series between Seoul and London should check both holiday calendars in advance, as a closure in either city can disrupt several weeks of scheduling.