South Korea Has the World’s Hottest Stock Market: Why Does MSCI Still Call It ‘Emerging’?

South Korea’s KOSPI surged 112% in 2026, overtook the UK’s FTSE 100, and ranked as the world’s best-performing major index in 2025. Yet MSCI’s latest annual review left the country in its Emerging Markets category for another year.

MSCI CEO Henry Fernandez says South Korea’s economy is not the problem. Its currency market is.

One Currency Rule Blocks the Upgrade

Fernandez told CNBC that South Korea is “one of the most developed markets on the planet” in economic and technological terms. But MSCI judges countries on how their equity markets function for international investors. On that measure, the Korean won creates a specific barrier.

Fund managers buying South Korean equities must first purchase the won to settle trades. In every other market that MSCI classifies as developed, investors can buy or sell that currency at any hour, from any major financial center. The Korean won trades only during business hours in Seoul.

That constraint matters at scale. Fernandez said a third of all globally managed index assets sit in index funds. Managers running those funds cannot rebalance Korean positions outside Seoul trading hours.

July Reform Is Not Enough to Convince MSCI

South Korea plans to launch 24-hour dollar-won spot trading on July 6. Fernandez acknowledged the reform as real progress. But he raised a direct question: will a Seoul-based night shift generate enough liquidity, with a tight enough bid-ask spread, to satisfy institutional demand? He said he has doubts.

MSCI also cited rigid investor identification requirements, restrictions on in-kind transfers, and limits on exchange data use as additional reasons for keeping the country in emerging markets. The index provider stated that investors reported these issues remain unresolved.

South Korea already holds developed-market status under FTSE Russell’s classification system. The MSCI designation carries greater weight for passive fund flows globally, which is why Seoul has long pursued the upgrade. Earlier this year, the KOSPI overtook London’s FTSE 100 to become the eighth most valuable national equity index in the world. Market performance does not factor into MSCI’s methodology, however.

The July trading launch will be the key test. If it produces deep, liquid markets around the clock, MSCI’s next annual review could look different.