South Korea Stock Exchange extends trading hours to 8 p.m.

South Korea's main stock exchange will extend its trading hours to the evening starting from Monday (14th) to make it easier for overseas investors to enter the market during European trading hours. Seoul hopes to attract more international capital.

The South Korean Exchange will extend trading hours to 8 pm, while the current normal closing time is 3:30 pm. This extended trading will cover approximately 2,400 listed stocks on the South Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the South Korea Growth Enterprise Market (KOSDAQ). Short selling will be allowed during the extended trading period, but exchange-traded funds (ETFs) will initially be excluded.

The move marks another step toward the exchange's long-term goal of enabling round-the-clock trading. Pre-market trading is scheduled to be launched by the end of 2027.

The focus of this restructuring is "real-time". In the past, call auctions were held every 10 minutes after the market opened. The new system has been changed to continuous trading. Investors can complete transactions immediately as long as the buying and selling quotations match. This move is designed to allow investors to quickly adjust their positions in response to major market news after the market closes, without having to wait until the market opens the next day.

South Korea's stock market has soared this year on the back of the artificial intelligence craze and is currently in an expansion phase. Although the South Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) is down 22% from its peak in July, it is still expected to rise 64% in 2026.

Taiwan stocks are also facing discussions about the adjustment of trading hours. Financial Supervisory Committee Chairman Peng Jinlong confirmed on July 8, 2026 that the case of extending the trading hours of Taiwan stocks to 3:30 pm has not been implemented for the time being because it involves a wide range of aspects and there is no consensus in society.

In response to the controversy over the out-of-sync time between intraday odd-lot trading and whole-stock trading, Lin Xiuming, chairman of the stock exchange, promised to advance the opening time of intraday odd-lot trading to 9 a.m., hoping to formally launch the new system before the end of this year. Under the current system, the odd-lot commissioning time is from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and the first matching time is 9:10.