On February 7, the South Korean financial authority stated on Tuesday that in order to attract more overseas investment, South Korea will extend the foreign exchange trading hours to 2 am local time (1 am Beijing time) as early as July 2024, and allow offshore companies to Participate in transactions.
South Korean finance ministry officials said that since being traumatized by the previous crisis (the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s), South Korea’s foreign exchange market has maintained a closed and restrictive structure for more than 20 years, which has hindered capital markets and The development of the financial industry has made Korean won-denominated assets less attractive to foreign investors. Although South Korea’s trade volume and securities market have grown substantially over the past decade, growth in its foreign exchange market remains sluggish due to its closed nature, the data showed.
