How to Check What Idle Won Can Do in Korea

You sold Korean shares or collected a dividend, and the won is still sitting in your investment-only account. Since November 2, 2026, Korea’s foreign exchange rulebook has lines saying that accounts can take in and pay out money tied to short-term financial products and similar items under Article 241 of the Capital Markets Act enforcement decree. Before that date, neither list in the rulebook named that category. The new lines don’t promise that your broker sells such a product, and if you invest through an omnibus account at a foreign broker, it doesn’t reach you directly.

The rulebook calls these accounts investment-dedicated accounts, and this guide calls them investment-only accounts, as our hub does. It zooms in on one stretch of the route mapped in our guide to moving money into and out of Korean stocks: what happens to won after the sale. It lays the rulebook’s lists side by side, before and after Ministry of Finance and Economy Notice 2026-110, and shows where the change stops.

Key Takeaways

• Two lines were added. Notice 2026-110, issued October 30 and in force November 2, 2026, added one item to the list of what the won account can take in (Article 7-37, paragraph 4, item 12) and one to the list of what it can pay out (paragraph 5, item 13).
• The category is Article 241. Both lines point to the short-term financial products listed in the Capital Markets Act enforcement decree, such as certificates of deposit with up to six months left and government bonds with up to five years left.
• The “before” wasn’t blank. Paragraph 5 already let the account buy certain bills and certificates of deposit from a foreign exchange bank. The new lines name the wider category.
• The money still moves by transfer. Each new line says an earlier item applies to it, and those items run through transfers to and from won accounts at Korean banks and brokers.
• Your route decides whether it applies. For an omnibus account, the rulebook treats your foreign broker as the foreign investor. The rule says a foreign investor “may” use these accounts, and which products you can buy is your broker’s call.

Contents

1. Where idle won comes from
2. Before and after, side by side
3. What the two new lines say
4. What “short-term financial product” means here
5. Where the change came from
6. Who it reaches and who it doesn’t
7. What to ask your broker
8. Frequently asked questions

1. Where idle won comes from

Article 7-37 of the foreign exchange rulebook says a foreign investor “may” use two accounts in the investor’s own name at a foreign exchange bank: one for foreign currency and one for non-resident won. Our hub walks through both. This guide only cares about the winner.

Won lands there in two main ways. Sale proceeds, dividends, and interest arrive by transfer from a won account at a Korean bank or broker. And any foreign currency you sold from your other investment-only account comes in as won. The Financial Services Commission says Korean stocks settle two trading days after the trade date, so a sale’s proceeds settle on the second trading day. Our guide to Korea’s T+2 settlement cycle covers the mechanics.

If you don’t buy again right away, that won’t sit— for a buy-and-hold investor, possibly for a long time. Until November 2, the list of permitted uses named moving it back to your foreign-currency account, spending it in Korea, paying for securities, and a few other things, but no short-term product category.

2. Before and after, side by side

The rulebook gives each list as a closed one: the account can take in or pay out money “only” for the listed reasons, so a category either has a line or it doesn’t. That makes the lists easy to compare.

	Before November 2, 2026	From November 2, 2026
Money into the won account (paragraph 4)	Eleven listed sources, including sale proceeds, dividends and interest by transfer, and winnings from selling your foreign-currency balance	The same eleven, plus item 12: funds tied to Article 241 short-term financial products and similar items
Money out of the won account (paragraph 5)	Twelve listed uses, including a transfer to your foreign-currency account, payment for securities, transfers between your own accounts, and living costs.	The same twelve, plus item 13: payment of funds tied to those products and similar items
Short-term products, by name	In neither list	In both lists
Bank certificates of deposit and bills	Buying them from a foreign exchange bank was already a listed use.	Unchanged
Living-cost withdrawals	Allowed; the Financial Supervisory Service must be told when one person withdraws more than US$10,000 in a day	Unchanged
Omnibus accounts	The foreign firm that opened the account counts as the foreign investor.	Unchanged

The counts of eleven and twelve come from the rulebook’s own revision marks: items 12 and 13 carry the tag “Notice 2026-110, October 30, 2026, newly added,” and the items before them don’t.

3. What the two new lines say

Read the two items as a pair.

Paragraph 4, item 12, lets the won account take in “funds related to” short-term financial products and similar items under Article 241 of the enforcement decree. Paragraph 5, item 13, lets it pay out funds related to the same products. Each ends with a sentence saying an earlier item applies correspondingly: item 1 for money in, item 2 for money out.

Those earlier items matter. Item 1 says sale proceeds, dividends, and interest come in by transfer from won accounts at foreign exchange banks, brokers, the securities depository, securities finance companies, merchant banks, savings banks, or post offices. Item 2 says payments go out by transfer to the same kinds of accounts. As I read it, the new lines widen the reasons for a transfer, and they don’t open a side door that skips the transfer.

The rulebook widens what the account may do. It doesn’t widen what your broker has to sell—it obliges no bank or broker to offer a product, and it names none.

4. What “short-term financial product” means here

The phrase comes from Article 241 of the enforcement decree of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act. The article is headed with the term for a short-term money market fund, and paragraph 1 lists the instruments it counts as short-term financial products. The version in force since October 13, 2026, lists these unwon-denominated ones:

• certificates of deposit with up to six months left
• government bonds with up to five years left
• local government bonds, special bonds, corporate bonds, and commercial paper with up to one year left, with some corporate bonds excluded (for this line and the one above, no time-left limit applies when bought under a repurchase agreement)
• bills with up to one year left, short-term loans, and deposits maturing within six months
• units of other short-term money market funds and short-term bonds

The decree also covers foreign-currency versions, but the account at issue holds won.

Two cautions. The list defines a category of instruments. It doesn’t say which wrapper a given broker sells to non-residents—a fund, a deposit, or a bill. And “left” means the time remaining to maturity, not the time since issue, so a ten-year government bond with four years left can qualify. The decree lifts the time-left limit when a bond is bought under a repurchase agreement.

5. Where the change came from

The government signaled this in its joint July 2026 internationalization roadmap, which names the ministry as the owner of the task. Under a heading about easing limits on short-term products, the roadmap said it wanted non-residents to be able to put what they hold temporarily into short-term products. It named the fix: spell out short-term financial products as reasons for the won account to take in and pay out money by amending the rulebook as a second-half 2026 task for the ministry.

Date	Item	Status
July 2026	The roadmap lists the amendment as a second-half 2026 task.	Plan
October 30, 2026	Notice 2026-110 issued	Issued
November 2, 2026	Items 12 and 13 of Article 7-37 take effect.	In effect

The notice also amended other parts of the rulebook, such as Article 7-15(1) on residents borrowing won from non-residents. That rule covers different people and a different transaction, and this guide doesn’t cover it.

6. Who it reaches and who it doesn’t

The change is written for a foreign investor who holds these accounts in the investor’s own name. That’s a direct account at a Korean broker, which our guide to opening a Korean brokerage account as a non-resident covers.

If you invest through an omnibus account at a foreign broker, the rulebook’s Article 7-36 treats the foreign financial firm that opened the account as the foreign investor. The Korean-side accounts are the firm’s, and so is the won. Article 7-37 even provides for investment-only accounts held in a foreign financial firm’s name. As I read it, the rule’s lists are about the firm’s accounts, and I found nothing in the rulebook saying the firm must pass anything to you. What you get, if anything, is whatever its terms say. Our explainer on Korea’s omnibus account rules covers that account type, and the comparison of four routes into Korean stocks shows who holds what on each.

The same goes for other routes where you never see Korean won, such as ADRs.

7. What to ask your broker

Because the rulebook sets the ceiling and not the menu, the useful questions go to the broker:

1. Do you offer any Article 241 short-term product to non-residents, and which ones?
2. Does the money move by transfer from my investment-only won account, and who holds the product?
3. What fees apply, and what are the timing and cutoffs for putting money in and getting it back?
4. How quickly does the money come back if I want to buy shares or send it home?

Treat the answers as terms to compare, not as a recommendation from this site. Returns, tax treatment, and product risk aren’t in the rulebook, so they aren’t in this guide. For dividends, our guide to collecting Korean dividends covers withholding.

8. Frequently asked questions

Did Notice 2026-110 add the short-term product lines?

Yes. The rulebook marks Article 7-37, paragraph 4, item 12 and paragraph 5, item 13 as newly added by the notice issued on October 30, 2026, in force from November 2, 2026.

Can I put idle won into a money market fund?

Since November 2, 2026, the rulebook lets the won account deal in funds tied to Article 241 products, and that list includes units of short-term money market funds. It doesn’t say whether a particular fund is sold to non-residents. Ask your broker.

Does the rule say what I’d earn?

No. The rulebook sets no rate and names no product. Returns depend on what your broker offers.

Does this change how I send money home?

Not by itself. Paragraph 5 still lets the won account transfer to your investment-only foreign-currency account, and from there the rulebook lets you remit abroad.

Does it apply to me if I use an omnibus account?

Not directly. The rulebook treats the foreign firm that opened the omnibus account as the foreign investor, so, as I read it, the rule is about the firm’s accounts.

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Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal or tax advice. It draws on Korea’s Foreign Exchange Transactions Regulation as in force from November 2, 2026, Article 241 of the enforcement decree of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act as in force from October 13, 2026, and the government’s joint July 2026 won internationalization roadmap. Rules and broker practices change, and individual circumstances differ. Confirm current terms with your broker and consult a qualified professional before you act.

Last updated: November 11, 2026