South Korea: Exploring the potential of the Land of the Morning Calm

South Korean capital markets have undergone a remarkable transformation in recent years, opening its doors to foreign investors in a way that was not possible throughout the last 3 decades.

From the removal of the need for foreign investors to obtain an Investor Registration Certificate in 2023, to the increase in the use of English in South Korean security documentation and disclosures, the East Asian nation is taking all the right steps to solidify itself in international capital markets – and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) has been there supporting its partners in the region every step of the way.

To highlight our exchange’s role, let’s take a look back at what we and our issuers and counterparts in South Korea have achieved to date.

Reigniting capital markets cooperations

South Korean issuers have been no strangers to LuxSE over the years, with our exchange experiencing its first South Korean issuer boom between 1985 and 2005, when 379 bonds from 144 South Korea issuers made their way to our markets, in addition to 30 Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) from 24 issuers from the Land of the Morning Calm.  

But our renewed engagement in the East Asian country found a new lease of life from 2024 onwards, with a number of important listings.   

This all started that February, when we welcomed the Korean Development Bank back to our exchange for the first time since 2004 with the listing of a dual-tranche bond offering, totalling USD 3 billion.

Using our expediated listing service, FastLane, this listing illustrated our ambition to better connect international capital markets through simpler and faster processing and further diversify the investment opportunities available to European investors.

Fast forward to the end of February 2026, and our exchange has helped South Korea-based issuers raise EUR 27 billion (or close to USD 31 billion) in international capital markets through 38 outstanding bonds listed at LuxSE – EUR 2.8 billion (more than USD 3 billion) of which are displayed on the Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX) and specifically target crucial sustainable development and housing projects in the country.

This was fuelled by an exceptional start to Korea issuers on our exchange – bringing 9 new securities totalling more than EUR 9 billion in the first two months of the year.

Sustainably serving the people of South Korea

You see, because in addition to counting the Republic of Korea as a sovereign issuer, as well as Korea Development Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea, KT&G Corporation, Hyundai Capital America and Shinhan Capital as LuxSE issuers, we are also proud to count the Export-Import Bank of Korea and Korea Housing Finance Corporation (KHFC) as both issuers on our exchange and our leading platform for sustainable finance, LGX.

In October 2024, the state-owned quasi-governmental institution KHFC brought its pioneering social covered bond to LuxSE and LGX.

The proceeds from this bond will be used to provide affordable, long-term, fixed-rate amortised mortgage loans, helping households manage their mortgage payment burden through stable debt payments.

Interested in learning more? Read our exclusive interview with Executive Director Han Youn Sik here.

LuxSE now a major overseas market in South Korea

But perhaps the most exciting development of all came in December 2024, when news broke that our exchange had officially become recognised as a ‘major overseas market’ for South Korean corporates wishing to break into international capital markets.

Speaking on the news, our CEO Julie Becker said:

“We are honoured to be recognised as a ‘major overseas market’ by the financial authorities South Korea. This is a testament to the global recognition of LuxSE and our role in uniting international capital markets to benefit both issuers and investors, and we look forward to facilitating the growth of South Korean capital markets through listings at LuxSE.”

Through this new status as a ‘major overseas market’, our exchange and our experts can now provide private sector South Korean issuers with enhanced exposure to international investors.

As part of this new development, our FastLane listing service is now extended to entities publicly listed on the Korea Exchange (KRX), an offering that was previously available only to sovereigns, sub-sovereigns and agencies (SSA) issuers in Korea.

In addition, it was through this expediated listing service that the Republic of Korea made its return to LuxSE in July 2025, with the listing of its dual-tranche sovereign issuance totalling EUR 1.4 billion, followed by further USD 1 billion and USD 1.2 billon listings in October 2025 and February 2026, respectively.

New opportunities for Korean FIG and corporate issuers

To add further opportunities for Korean issuers to enter international capital markets via LuxSE, the Korea Exchange (KRX) is also recognised by our exchange as one of a limited number of equivalent regulated markets.

This means that issuers with equity listed on KRX’s main board can now benefit from a streamlined pathway when listing debt securities on our Euro MTF, including exemptions from the formal prospectus approval process via FastLane.

While Korean issuers active on our exchange today are predominantly sovereign and agency names, this framework presents an unrivalled opportunity for financial institutions and corporates listed in Korea to efficiently access international debt capital markets via Luxembourg.

Looking ahead

With Asia Bond Monitor – an ASEAN +3 initiative lead by the Asian Development Bank – citing South Korea as the second-largest local currency bond market in East Asia in its March 2025 report, improved access and connectivity to international capital markets is crucial to the growth of South Korea’s foreign currency bond issuance market and the expansion and growth its capital market.

As the world’s leading exchange for international debt securities, LuxSE is committed to facilitating the growth of South Korean capital markets by enabling this access and connectivity – this includes the future onboarding of market makers to unlock greater liquidity and visibility for Korean GDRs, such as those from Samsung SDI and SK Hynix.

Our goal is to make international capital markets truly international – uniting issuers and investors from all over the world with the common goal of financing a brighter future.