economy
The world’s top-performing stock market still isn’t a developed market. Here’s why, according to the MSCI chief
MSCI CEO Henry Fernandez said South Korea's stock market still falls short of developed market standards.
TL;DR
- South Korea's stock market is classified as emerging by MSCI, despite strong economic and technological performance.
- The primary obstacle to developed market status is the trading restriction on the Korean won, which limits trading to Seoul's office hours.
- MSCI questions the liquidity and accessibility of the won for global index fund managers.
- Other contributing factors include rigid investor identification systems and transaction restrictions.
- South Korea is preparing to launch 24-hour trading in the dollar-won spot market.
- Despite these issues, South Korea's Kospi index has been the world's best-performing equity index in 2025.