Overview

• President Lee said Seoul will move to around-the-clock foreign-exchange trading to broaden access for global investors and develop an offshore won market.
• Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol met MSCI Chairman Henry Fernandez in New York to outline the reform agenda.
• The government will release a comprehensive roadmap later this year aimed at securing reclassification to MSCI’s developed-market index.
• Plans include an offshore won settlement system allowing foreign institutions to hold local won accounts and a Bank of Korea 24-hour FX network, which officials say requires regulatory changes but not parliamentary approval.
• Korea’s FX market currently operates 9 a.m.–2 a.m. local time, and the won weakened to about 1,410.8 per dollar on Friday as markets digested the policy signals.