Starting July 6, USD-KRW trading will run nonstop for 24 hours. The old foreign exchange market schedule, which opened at 9 a.m. and closed at 2 a.m. the next day, will come to an end.
The Seoul Foreign Exchange Market Operations Council held a general meeting on the 29th of last month and approved a revision to the code of conduct to shift USD-KRW trading to a 24-hour, uninterrupted system. The implementation date is July 6. The council disclosed the decision on the 31st.
The new trading hours will follow U.S. New York daylight saving time. During daylight saving time, the market will be open from 6 a.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Saturday; when daylight saving time is not in effect, it will run from 7 a.m. Monday to 7 a.m. Saturday. Trading hours for currencies other than the dollar will remain unchanged, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Except for weekends and January 1, trading will be possible on all days, including domestic public holidays. Trades executed on public holidays will be settled on a bank business day. Each year, the market will open at 9 a.m. on the first business day and close at midnight on the last business day.
The biggest change is that trading gaps will disappear. Although extending trading hours to 2 a.m. last year reduced inconvenience for European investors, funds moving during U.S. trading hours still had difficulty buying and selling Korean won in time. The 24-hour system fills that gap. When overseas investors increase or reduce their holdings of Korean stocks, currency exchange and foreign-exchange risk management will become much easier.
As trading hours expand, the method for compiling exchange rates will also be revised. The daily opening price, intraday high, and intraday low will be calculated based on the period from 6 a.m. to 6 a.m. the following day, using daylight saving time.
The base exchange rate, which serves as the market benchmark, will for now continue to use the current method. At present, it is determined through the “MAR” method, which applies a weighted average of exchange rates and trading volume from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The foreign exchange authorities plan to provide statistics based on the closing exchange rate for the daytime session.
After a grace period, the base exchange rate will be switched to the time-weighted average price, or TWAP. This method sets the benchmark rate by averaging prices around the calculation point. In line with the extended trading hours, spot FX brokers will provide a time-weighted average price every hour on the hour. Some participants at the meeting also said that sufficient transition time is needed to reduce market confusion.
Reflecting the discussions at the meeting, the foreign exchange authorities plan to revise the Foreign Exchange Transactions Regulation next month to include changes to the base exchange rate.
The revision is not a sudden decision. The government’s “2026 Economic Growth Strategy,” announced earlier this year, identified the 24-hour opening of the foreign exchange market in July as a key task. It is part of the roadmap toward inclusion in the MSCI developed market index.
MSCI has long viewed Korea’s stock market as developed-market level in size and liquidity, but insufficient in terms of market accessibility. Foreign exchange market liberalization has been a major sticking point.
The government is envisioning a scenario in which Korea is placed on the watch list in June, announced for inclusion in the developed index in 2027, and actually reflected in 2028.
If Korea is included in the developed index, global funds that benchmark against it will flow into the country. It would offer a channel to ease the long-standing undervaluation known as the “Korea discount.” Greater international use and trading of the won could also help reduce exchange-rate volatility.
The remaining challenge is the stability of the overnight market. Even if trading expands to 24 hours, if liquidity is thin in the early morning hours, small orders could cause exchange rates to swing sharply.
An eFX system that automatically processes orders without foreign-exchange specialists, as well as an offshore won-settlement system in which foreign financial institutions hold won-denominated accounts in Korea and manage them directly, must support the market for the 24-hour system to function properly.
The success of the system will depend not on the schedule itself, but on the liquidity and stability that fill those hours. July 6 is expected to mark the starting point for Korea’s foreign exchange market to move one step closer to global standards.