SEOUL (Reuters) -South 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. local time (0000-1100 GMT), 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 South 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 South 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 long-standing national goal and a key pledge by President Lee Jae Myung.
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
