South Korea's Ministry of Finance: 24-hour foreign exchange trading will be implemented in South Korea starting from July

PANews reported on January 9 that the South Korean Ministry of Finance announced on Friday that it will open the foreign exchange market for 24-hour trading starting in July, further relaxing onshore trading restrictions in an effort to be upgraded to developed market status. The South Korean Vice Minister of Finance stated, "We will formulate a roadmap for the internationalization of the Korean won in the first half of the year, aiming to significantly enhance the accessibility and demand for the won, such as developing offshore won financing. At the same time, we will also advance related work according to the published MSCI inclusion roadmap." The introduction of the 24-hour trading plan comes two years after South Korea extended trading hours and allowed foreign institutions to trade the won offshore, as the country seeks to be included in major global stock indices. Two years ago, the USD/KRW market was only open for six and a half hours per day, and direct USD trading could only be conducted through two domestic interbank networks. The Ministry of Finance also plans to introduce a new offshore won trading system, relax reporting requirements, and simplify the registration process for market participants, while promoting trading demand growth through cross-border payment settlements and overseas financing.