Index provider MSCI kept South Korea in its Emerging Markets category on Wednesday and again declined to place the country on its developed market watchlist, despite Seoul’s series of reforms aimed at improving access for foreign investors. In its annual market classification review, MSCI said underlying accessibility issues had not been fully resolved and pointed to several remaining obstacles, including the absence of a fully deliverable offshore won market, insufficient liquidity during extended foreign exchange trading hours, limited adoption of omnibus accounts and in-kind transfers, operational burdens associated with the reinstated short selling regime and early pre-settlement funding requirements.