@meanmatch
So South Korea changed course. Instead of watching investors use Hong Kong as a gateway to trade Korean companies, regulators approved domestic products and allowed the local industry to compete. More than 10,000 retail investors even completed a mandatory educational course before launch day so they could buy the new ETFs immediately.
This is why the story goes far beyond the launch of a few new ETFs. South Korea recognized that the market already existed and chose to relocate that activity from foreign exchanges back to its own financial system.