Korea to expand securities settlement hours for global investors
Published: 15 Aug. 2025, 17:42
![Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and Korean won, right, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Aug. 14. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/08/15/e5b3f103-be71-4fc4-b2e6-1d066eef1660.jpg)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and Korean won, right, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Aug. 14. [AP/YONHAP]
Korea will extend operating hours for transaction settlement systems at the central bank and the securities depository starting April 2026, aiming to ease access for foreign investors across different time zones, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday.
The Bank of Korea's operating hours will expand to 9 a.m. and 8 p.m., from 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m, aligning closer to those of countries included in FTSE Russell's World Government Bond Index, which Korea is set to join in April 2026.
The measure is the first step taken by the government since forming a task force to upgrade Korea's domestic stock market to developed-market status from emerging market classification by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI). Achieving MSCI's developed status remains a longstanding national goal and a key pledge by President Lee Jae Myung.
Reuters
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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