By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

Jan. 1, 2009 will come a second later than expected ― the new year's countdown should include Dec. 31, 23:59:60 p.m. then move on to 0:00:00 the next day, the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) said Sunday.

The institute said the International Rotation and Reference System Service has decided to adopt a leap second at the start of the New Year and make 2008 a second longer. Such a second was also added New Year's Day in 2006.

The intercalary second system was first adopted in 1972 when the service began using the atomic time system. The clock managed to detect a very small time gap between Earth's rotation and revolutions, and adopted the leap second to fill it in. The system has been adjusted 24 times since then.

The KRISS asked telecommunication, broadcasting, public companies and organizations to set their clocks accordingly to inform the public of the exact time.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr