South Korea has again failed to make Morgan Stanley Capital International’s(MSCI) candidate list of “developed markets.”

In an annual market review released on Thursday, the global provider of investment data and analytic services kept South Korea in the “emerging market” group.

MSCI classifies economies based on economic development, size and liquidity of equity markets, as well as market accessibility for foreign investors, with inclusion in the index of “developed markets” requiring more than one year on the watchlist for the top classification.

MSCI said that it welcomes proposed measures to improve foreign investors’ access to the Korean stock market and will monitor the effect of their implementation, adding that South Korea’s inclusion on the watchlist will come only after investors can actually feel the improvement.

MSCI said it will reassess South Korea's inclusion on the watchlist after monitoring the impact of the expected adjustments in June of next year.