South Korea’s bourse operator, the Korea Exchange, said Friday that it will launch a gold trading platform early next week as scheduled, after a three-week trial period.

Last year, the country’s financial authorities unveiled a plan to set up a gold trading platform in line with the government’s efforts to bring the underground economy into the open and squeeze taxes out of the market, where tax evasion is rampant and dominated by illegal transactions.

According to the exchange, 1 gram units of bullion of 99.99 percent purity will be used to facilitate liquidity and delivery will be made in 1 kilogram bars.

Trading will be made from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. starting Monday, and transaction fees will be exempted for a year through March next year, it said.

Along with futures firms, securities firms, gold dealers, importers and wholesalers, local refiners approved by the authorities can be registered as a member of the spot gold bourse and engage in buying or selling spot gold like stocks.

They are required to deposit their gold in a depository, with buyers bidding for ownership in the depository, according to the Korea Exchange. (Yonhap)