South Korea's first alternative stock trading platform set sail Tuesday, bringing a 12-hour trading system, as well as greater efficiency and convenience to the trading of securities, according to Yonhap.

The Korea Exchange (KRX), launched in 1956, has been the country's only national operator of the stock market, but the launch of the country's secondary stock trading platform, named Nextrade (NXT), is expected to facilitate competition in the country's stock exchange landscape.

The NXT runs for 12 hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., longer than the trading hours from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. of the main KRX bourse.

The NXT also offers lower fees compared with the main bourse and introduces different stock bid and ask prices.

While short selling is allowed, it is banned during pre-market (8 a.m. to 8:50 a.m.) and after-market trading hours (3:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.), according to the NXT.

The KRX's daily stock price limits and market stabilization measures, such as a circuit breaker, are also applied on the NXT.

A total of 32 brokerage houses joined the NXT, and although the NXT started with only 10 firms being traded, the number will rise to 800 in a month.

Kim Hak-soo, the head of the NXT, said the secondary stock exchange will contribute to the stock market's sustainable growth and corporate value-up by providing innovative services.

"We thoroughly checked the trading system's stability and will run the system in a stable manner by closely monitoring market conditions," Kim said.

Lee Bok-hyun, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), said the launch of the NXT will become another turning point for market advancement and the country's corporate value-up drive.