As recently as last year, the won could only be directly exchanged with the dollar in the local interbank market or the Chinese yuan - won-yuan transactions could only take place in Seoul or Shanghai.
Only a total of 56 financial institutions based in the country could participate in dollar-won spot trading for just six-and-a-half hours a day, through the two government-registered brokers: Seoul Money Brokerage Services and Korea Money Brokerage Corp.
Currently, outside the onshore trading hours of 0900 to 1550, foreign investors rely on derivatives contracts known as non-deliverable forwards to manage their won exposure, a more costly option.