South Korea: South Korea has taken a series of measures to improve foreign accessibility to its equity and currency markets, but such access still remains limited, global index provider Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) said Friday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, in its 2025 market accessibility review report, MSCI highlighted that the South Korean market has implemented a series of foreign exchange market reforms. These reforms include the extension of trading hours and the allowance of foreign players to participate in the onshore forex market. Despite these efforts, MSCI pointed out that there is still no offshore currency market, and constraints persist in the onshore currency market.

"Despite these reforms, the registration process continues to face operational hurdles. Moreover, the limited usage of omnibus accounts and over-the-counter transactions has constrained the impact of related regulatory initiatives," MSCI noted in its report.

MSCI has raised its rating on Korea's stock short selling to positive from negative after Seoul fully lifted its stock short selling ban in late March. The ban was reintroduced in November 2023, and new regulatory and technical measures were taken to enhance oversight of the trading method. The global index provider stated it will continue to monitor developments to assess the stability of the regulations over time.

South Korea remained on MSCI's emerging market list last year as the country reimposed the ban on stock short selling. Every year in June, MSCI renews its watch lists of emerging markets and developed markets based on the countries' economic development, size and liquidity of equity markets, and market accessibility for foreign investors. This year's lists are due out next week.