Bank of Korea Turns Won Into a 24/7 Worker 😴💴

The Bank of Korea (BOK) launched a pilot of its first 24-hour won settlement network, allowing foreign investors to settle won transactions outside South Korea's standard banking hours. The central bank said its international wire network began trial operations on Monday with four domestic lenders: KB Kookmin Bank, Woori Bank, Hana Bank and Shinhan Bank.

Full operations are expected to begin in January 2027, when participation is set to expand to additional institutions and foreign banks. The network will run 24 hours a day, excluding weekends and public holidays. Foreign investors will be able to settle won transactions during business hours in their home countries through accounts held with Registered Foreign Institutions for KRW Business, or RFI-Ks, without opening accounts directly with South Korean financial institutions.

The BOK said it expects the network to strengthen the won's international standing by improving foreign investors' access to won settlement infrastructure. The rollout comes as the central bank continues to explore tokenized settlement through Project Agorá, led by the Bank for International Settlements, which completed real-value cross-border payment trials in July using tokenized central bank reserves and commercial bank deposits, including the won.

The BOK is also advancing Project Hangang, a blockchain-based pilot that uses a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) to settle tokenized commercial bank deposits. South Korea separately plans to test tokenized government bonds with a CBDC in 2027.