South Korea's central bank has initiated testing of a round-the-clock payment system for the Korean won, laying the groundwork for broader foreign capital access to the nation's markets starting next year.

The Bank of Korea announced that the trial commenced at 9 a.m. local time on Monday, with four domestic banks participating. Among them, two institutions have already processed transactions totaling 1.4 billion won, equivalent to approximately $1 million.

According to the statement, international banks will also join the testing phase at a later stage, though a specific timeline has not yet been confirmed. This initiative comes as South Korea builds the necessary infrastructure for 24-hour trading and settlement of the won.

Trading of the dollar-won pair within South Korea has already shifted to a round-the-clock schedule since July of this year. Meanwhile, starting in January, overseas investors will be permitted to independently conduct trading, transfers, and settlements of the won outside Korean borders.

These measures, unveiled by Seoul earlier this year, are designed to open up the foreign exchange market to global investors and to support the country's push for MSCI to reclassify its equities as developed market status.

The central bank stated that it will continuously monitor the system to ensure smooth operations, while also making ongoing improvements and expanding the pool of market participants.