South Korea's Ministry of Economy and Finance said the country's foreign exchange market has moved to 24-hour continuous trading, operating from 6 a.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Saturday, with 7 a.m. opening and closing during U.S. winter time. At a launch-day visit to Hana Bank's Seoul dealing room, Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol presented the change as a foreign exchange market reform aimed at bringing KRW trading closer to advanced-market standards and allowing domestic and overseas investors, exporters and importers to transact without time-zone constraints. The ministry said the new regime follows earlier extensions of market hours and was prepared jointly by the government, the Bank of Korea, banks, securities firms, brokers and exporting companies through changes to relevant rules and market practices, staffing increases and pilot trading. It said round-the-clock trading should help exporters and importers manage exchange-rate risk in real time and support business expansion for domestic financial institutions and brokers. The Bank of Korea said it will closely monitor market effects and trading developments as the longer hours bed in. The ministry said market stability and orderly implementation are now the main priorities. It plans uninterrupted 24-hour monitoring and said it will continue other foreign exchange market reforms, including an offshore KRW settlement system intended to enable 24-hour settlement, with full operation planned for January 2027.

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