Won Internationalization Roadmap

planned

South Korea's government unveiled the Won Internationalization Roadmap, a policy shift allowing won-denominated accounts to be opened at local banks in New York and other overseas financial hubs. The Bank of Korea will launch a 24-hour Offshore Won Settlement Network starting January 2027, lifting restrictions on won transactions between foreigners. The plan includes automating securities trading and settlement for foreign investors, expanding English-language corporate disclosures, easing pre-reporting requirements for capital transactions, rolling out incentives for won-denominated trade settlements, upgrading digital financial infrastructure, and establishing risk management frameworks to handle volatility on the scale of a global financial crisis.