South Korea’s central bank just flipped the switch. The Bank of Korea launched a 24-hour won settlement pilot on Monday, letting foreign investors move money in Korean won outside the country’s usual banking windows — a pretty big deal for anyone sitting in New York or London trying to settle trades when Seoul is asleep.
Four domestic banks are in the room: KB Kookmin Bank, Woori Bank, Hana Bank, and Shinhan Bank. All four are now running trial operations on the new international wire network. Full launch is set for January 2027, and the BOK says more institutions — including foreign banks — will be brought in before that date. No names yet on who those might be.
The network runs continuously, minus weekends and public holidays.
How the RFI-K Accounts Actually Work
Foreign investors won’t need to open direct accounts with South Korean financial institutions to use this. Instead, they’ll settle through a new account type called Registered Foreign Institutions for KRW Business — or RFI-Ks. It’s basically a workaround for the hoops that have traditionally kept overseas players from getting clean, fast access to won-denominated settlement. You don’t have to plant a flag in Seoul. You just need an RFI-K account, and you can settle during your own business hours.
That’s the pitch, anyway. Whether foreign institutions actually rush to set up those accounts is unclear yet. The BOK hasn’t disclosed details on how many overseas firms have expressed interest or how the onboarding process works in practice.
The core goal, per the central bank, is to strengthen the won’s international presence. Won settlement has long been constrained by time zone friction — South Korea’s banking hours don’t overlap cleanly with major financial hubs in Europe or the Americas. A round-the-clock network, even one that’s still in pilot phase, chips away at that problem.
Project Agorá and Project Hangang Push Further
The 24-hour network isn’t the only thing the BOK is cooking. Two separate tokenized settlement projects are already in motion, and they’re probably more radical than the wire network pilot.
Project Agorá wrapped up real-value cross-border payment trials in July. The project, which the BOK ran alongside the Bank for International Settlements, used tokenized central bank reserves and commercial bank deposits — including the Korean won — to actually move money across borders. Not a simulation. Real value. That’s a meaningful threshold for a central bank to cross.
Project Hangang is still underway. It’s focused on a wholesale central bank digital currency — a blockchain-based CBDC — designed to settle tokenized commercial bank deposits. Wholesale CBDCs aren’t meant for consumers. They’re built for banks and large financial institutions, and they operate at the infrastructure level. If Hangang works the way the BOK seems to want it to, it could reshape how interbank settlement functions inside South Korea, and maybe beyond.
The two projects aren’t directly linked to the 24-hour wire network, but they’re clearly part of the same broader push. The BOK seems to want the won to function more fluidly in an increasingly digital, always-on global financial system. And it’s running multiple bets at once to get there.
No timeline has been given for Project Hangang’s next phase. The BOK hasn’t said when — or whether — it plans to take either tokenized project beyond the pilot stage.
What Full Operations in 2027 Actually Means
January 2027 is the target for full operations on the settlement network. Between now and then, the central bank says it plans to expand participation beyond the current four banks. Foreign banks are specifically mentioned as future participants, which matters — without foreign bank involvement, the network’s utility for international investors is probably limited.
It’s worth noting that the four banks already in the pilot aren’t small players. KB Kookmin, Woori, Hana, and Shinhan are among South Korea’s largest financial institutions. Their participation gives the trial real weight. But four domestic banks running a test is still a long way from a fully operational international settlement system.
The BOK hasn’t shared data on transaction volumes from the pilot or any performance benchmarks it’s tracking. So it’s hard to say whether the trial is running smoothly or hitting friction. No details on that front.
What’s clear is that South Korea’s central bank is moving on multiple fronts — a live wire network pilot, a completed tokenized payment trial, and an ongoing blockchain CBDC project — all aimed at the same target: making the won easier to use, faster to settle, and harder to ignore in global markets.
KB Kookmin, Woori, Hana, and Shinhan are the four banks currently in the pilot.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Bank of Korea’s 24-hour won settlement network?
It’s a new international wire network in trial operations that lets foreign investors settle Korean won transactions outside South Korea’s normal banking hours, using accounts called RFI-Ks instead of direct local accounts.
Which banks are participating in the BOK’s settlement pilot?
KB Kookmin Bank, Woori Bank, Hana Bank, and Shinhan Bank are the four domestic banks currently running trial operations, with more institutions and foreign banks expected before full launch in January 2027.
