Despite being the world's best-performing stock market, Korea is still not classified as a developed market; the CEO of MSCI cites restrictions on KRW trading as the reason.

A key issue hindering the country from achieving reclassification upgrades is the trading restrictions imposed on the Korean won. “When you want to buy and sell stocks in the UK, France, Germany, Japan, or the US—any developed market—you must first purchase the local currency to buy stocks, and when you sell stocks, you must also sell the currency. Furthermore, you expect to be able to trade in London, New York, Frankfurt, Tokyo, or elsewhere, whenever it is convenient for you... but in Korea, you can't do that.” Expand