Record Date and Ex-Dividend Date: When You Must Buy to Get a Dividend (Korea T+2, US T+1)

Four dates around a dividend

A dividend announcement contains several dates. The declaration date is when the board or shareholders' meeting decides the dividend; the record date is when whoever is on the shareholder register is entitled to it; the ex-dividend date is the day from which buyers no longer get this dividend; and the payment date is when the money actually arrives. The ones tied directly to when you buy are the record date and the ex-dividend date. Shares must settle a few days after purchase before your name reaches the register, so buying on the record date itself is too late.

• Declaration date: when the dividend is decided
• Record date: shareholders on this day are paid
• Ex-dividend date: buyers from this day miss this dividend
• Payment date: when the money arrives

Korea: settlement takes two days

Korean shares settle on the third business day counting the trade date (T+2). To be on the register on the record date, you must buy at least two business days before it, and the business day immediately before the record date becomes the ex-dividend date. For example, if the record date is a Friday, you must buy by Wednesday, and Thursday is the ex-dividend date. If a holiday falls in between, count again in business days. Shares bought in the after-market or on the alternative trading system settle on the same date as other trades from that day, but processing times can differ by broker, so near the record date it is safer to buy with time to spare during the regular session.

• Record date Friday → buy by Wednesday, ex-dividend Thursday
• Recount in business days around holidays
• Buying on the record date is too late

US: down to one day since May 2024

Since 28 May 2024 the US settlement cycle has been the next business day after the trade (T+1). As a result, the ex-dividend date and the record date are usually the same day, and to receive the dividend you must buy by the business day before the ex-date. All dates are US dates, so trading from Korea means minding the time difference. If the US ex-date is a Tuesday, shares bought by the US Monday regular session (Monday night to early Tuesday morning in Korea) receive the dividend. If you buy through a Korean broker's daytime trading or extended hours, check which trade date it is booked to. Foreign dividends may show a payment date a day or two earlier than when the money actually reaches a Korean account.

Korea's dividend procedure since 2023

In the past, most Korean companies set the year-end as the record date, fixing who would be paid first, and decided the amount at the March shareholders' meeting of the following year, so investors had to buy without knowing what they would receive. In January 2023 the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Justice said that, under the Commercial Act, the voting record date and the dividend record date can be separated, and that a company amending its articles can fix the dividend first and set a later record date. For quarterly dividends, a December 2022 amendment to the Capital Markets Act allowed the record date to be set after the board resolution. So many companies now have annual dividend record dates between February and April, and dates differ by company. The old rule of thumb, 'buy by the end of December to get the dividend', no longer fits every company.

The share price on the ex-dividend date

On the ex-dividend date the price tends to start lower by roughly the value of the dividend that has dropped out, since cash leaving the company reduces the value of the shares. The actual open also reflects that day's news and orders, so it does not move by exactly the dividend. That is why buying just before the ex-date, collecting the dividend and selling straight away tends to lose money once the 15.4% withholding on the dividend, commissions and transaction tax are counted. Charts show a small gap on the ex-dividend date, which appears filled on charts using adjusted prices; the guide on adjusted prices and stock splits explains why.

Where to check the dates

For Korean companies, dividend schedules appear in the cash and in-kind dividend decision filings and the record date notices on the electronic disclosure system. The decision filing lists the dividend per share, the record date and the expected payment date, and companies that set the record date after the shareholders' meeting announce it separately. For quarterly payers, look at the board resolution filing. US companies list the ex-date, record date and payment date together in the investor relations section of their website or in their dividend press release. Broker apps' dividend calendars are convenient but rely on data vendors and can differ from filings, so double-check important dates against the original.

• Korea: cash and in-kind dividend decision filings, record date notices
• Quarterly dividends: board resolution filings
• US: company investor relations pages and dividend announcements
• Cross-check app dividend calendars with the original

Common mistakes

Most dividend date mistakes come from forgetting settlement. Below are the usual cases. US stocks in particular use US dates and a different settlement cycle, so calculating with the same instincts as for Korean shares puts you a day off.

• Thinking you can buy on the record date and still be paid
• Mixing US and Korean dates
• Assuming every Korean company's record date is the end of December
• Expecting a profit from buying just before and selling just after the ex-date
• Counting the pre-tax dividend as what you receive

Checking with this site's tools

The Dividend History & Growth tool shows Yahoo Finance dividend records by ex-dividend date, so you can see when a stock has gone ex-dividend each year and how often it pays. Enter your shares and dividend per share in the Dividend Calculator to get the per-payment amount and the after-tax figure. Grouping dividend stocks on My Stock Board lets you watch price moves around ex-dividend dates on one screen. Data vendor dates can differ from company filings, so make the final check against the filing.

Limits and disclaimer

This guide explains date relationships based on T+2 settlement in Korea and T+1 in the US as of October 2026. Actual dates can vary with holidays, broker processing and each company's articles and filings, so check company filings and your broker's guidance before buying. Companies can cut or stop dividends. This guide does not recommend buying any stock and is not investment advice.