SEOUL (Nov 11): The vice-chairman of South Korea's Financial Services Commission said on Monday he saw a much higher possibility of the domestic stock market winning a developed market status from global index provider Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) next year.

"There have been many improvements regarding stock market accessibility, which are expected to be felt more clearly next year," Kim So-young said at a press conference held for foreign media in Seoul.

Kim reaffirmed the government's plan to fully lift a market-wide ban on short selling of stocks in March next year, and said that would make the possibility of inclusion "much higher".

South Korea is currently categorised as a developing market by MSCI. The index provider has cited uncertainty over short-selling policies as a factor undermining market accessibility for foreign investors.

Last month, South Korea won inclusion in FTSE Russell's World Government Bond Index, which is expected to give the won currency a boost and attract billions of dollars into the domestic bond market.

That will help boost liquidity not only in the bond market, but also in the stock market, Kim said.

Kim said the objective of the government's ongoing corporate reform push, dubbed the "Corporate Value-up Programme", is to increase market value in the mid to long term.

Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee