Korea Exchange to Pursue 24-Hour Trading by End of Next Year

The Korea Exchange, which will extend its trading hours to 12 hours starting in June, has set a goal to establish a 24-hour trading system by the end of next year.

On January 13, the Korea Exchange announced in a press release, "To respond to the global competition for attracting investors and to enhance the competitiveness and international alignment of our capital market, we are working toward establishing a 24-hour trading system by December 2027. As part of this initiative, we first plan to implement a 12-hour trading system as an intermediate step toward 24-hour trading."

Beginning in June, the exchange is considering expanding the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets' current regular trading hours (9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) by adding a pre-market session (7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., one hour) and an after-market session (4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., four hours). This would open the market one hour earlier than NextTrade, an alternative trading system currently operating a pre-market session from 8:00 a.m. to 8:50 a.m.

The exchange explained that the purpose of advancing the market opening is "to quickly meet the demand from both domestic and international investors who wish to reflect global market conditions in their portfolios early, thereby expanding participation in the domestic market." The move is aimed at preventing the outflow of liquidity, as global advanced capital markets are upgrading their infrastructure by moving toward 24-hour trading systems.

The exchange also addressed concerns about increased labor burdens due to the extended trading hours. "To minimize labor burdens raised by labor unions, we plan to prohibit branch orders nationwide and limit orders to those placed through the headquarters and HTS (Home Trading System)/MTS (Mobile Trading System)," the exchange stated. "Regarding the participation of ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) liquidity providers, as raised by the securities industry, we will allow selective participation outside the regular market so that securities firms do not face undue burdens." The exchange also confirmed that it will seek various measures to minimize the IT development burden.

Currently, NYSE Arca in the United States offers 16-hour trading and is preparing, along with Nasdaq, to launch 24-hour trading services in the second half of the year. In addition, the London and Hong Kong exchanges are reportedly considering the introduction of 24-hour trading systems.

The Bull and Bear Statues at the Korea Exchange Seoul Headquarters. Photo by Yonhap News