Practical guides for foreign founders: how to set up, what it costs, how the visa works and what the tax office expects. Every guide comes with a calculator, a checklist or a quiz — so you leave with an answer, not just reading.
Korea has a reputation for paperwork. The reality is eight steps, one visit to a notary in your own country and, in most cases, one trip to a Korean bank. This is the whole route in the order it actually happens — with the statute behind every step.
15 min read02Setting upThe headline price is the easy part. What matters is what the price includes, which part the law sets, what you will pay in your own country and what arrives in the second month. Here is the whole bill, line by line, with the statute behind every number the state charges.
13 min read03Setting upAll three give you limited liability. All three can be owned entirely by a foreigner. The difference is who else you will ever deal with — investors, buyers, banks, immigration — and what they expect to see when they pull your registry extract.
13 min read04VisaThe D-8-1 lets a foreign investor live in Korea and run the company he or she has put money into. The rules are not complicated. They are, however, checked — line by line, against documents that have to agree with each other and with the law that sits behind them.
13 min read05VisaKorea does not have one investor visa; it has a ladder. Where you step on depends on how much you invest, what you are building and how long you mean to stay — and the rungs are set out, rung by rung, in the Immigration Act and its Enforcement Decree.
12 min read06Setting upOne hundred million won is the most quoted number in Korean company formation and the most misunderstood. It is not a fee, not a deposit and not, on its own, enough. Here is what the Foreign Investment Promotion Act actually asks for — and what you get in return.
12 min read07Setting upShort answer: yes. Longer answer: yes, in almost every sector, with no Korean partner, no Korean director and no minimum capital. The exceptions are few, they are listed in law, and they are easy to spot before you send a single won.
12 min read08BankingKorean banks are efficient, digital and thorough. Thorough is the part that catches foreign founders out. Walk in with the right file and the account opens in an hour; walk in without it and you will be back next week — and the reasons are written in three statutes.
12 min read09Setting upA virtual office is the cheapest way to give a Korean company a home. For registration, it usually works. For a visa, it usually doesn’t. In between sit the tax office, the bank and the Local Tax Act — each with its own view of what an address is for.
12 min read10Setting upBoth let an existing foreign company do business in Korea. One is a new Korean company; the other is your own company with a Korean address. The difference shows up in three places: liability, tax and paperwork.
4 min read11Setting upA liaison office is the lightest way for a foreign company to have people in Korea. It cannot sell. Everything else — research, sourcing, quality control, support — it does perfectly well.
4 min read12TaxFrom 1 January 2026, every Korean corporate tax bracket went up by one percentage point. For most small foreign-owned companies, that means 11% on the first KRW 200 million of profit, local tax included.
4 min read13TaxKorean VAT is simple in principle — ten per cent, four returns a year — and unforgiving in practice. The invoices must be electronic, the deadlines are fixed, and a quiet quarter still needs a return.
4 min read14TaxGetting profit out of a Korean company costs two taxes, not one: corporate tax on the profit, then withholding on the dividend. The second one is where tax treaties do their work — if you let them.
4 min read15Running a companyThe first hire turns a Korean company from an address into a business. It also switches on payroll: monthly withholding, four social insurances and a severance obligation that starts after one year.
4 min read16TaxTen digits, two hyphens, and every Korean invoice, bank form and contract asks for them. Here is how your company gets its business registration number — and how to read anyone else’s.
4 min read17Setting upThe apostille is the only part of a Korean company formation that happens entirely in your country, on your country’s timetable. Get it right once and it is a day’s errand. Get it wrong and it is a month.
4 min read18Setting upKorea is one of the most online retail markets in the world. Customers expect next-day delivery, Korean-language support and a checkout they already know. The question is whether you sell to them from abroad or from inside.
4 min read19Setting upKorea sits on the busiest trade routes in Asia and has free trade agreements with most of the world’s large economies. A trading company here is a natural idea. The paperwork is customs, VAT and patience with the first refund.
4 min read20Setting upThree of Asia’s most sought-after places to incorporate, three different bargains. Singapore sells efficiency, Japan sells scale, Korea sells speed and a founder visa that does not require a fortune.
4 min readGovernment tax, documents, address and our fee, line by line — and a calculator for your capital and city.
5 min read03Setting upThe four structures side by side, and a four-question quiz that picks yours.
4 min read04Setting upThe KRW 100 million rule, the notification and the certificate that opens the D-8.
2 min read05Setting upBuild your personal list in four clicks.
2 min read06BankingWhat the bank checks, how one visit is enough and how the new-account limits are lifted.
2 min read07Setting upRegistration address, serviced office or your own lease — three questions decide.
2 min read08TaxBusiness registration certificate and tax ID, and why applications stall.
2 min read09TaxCorporate tax brackets, VAT, withholding and a profit-to-pocket calculator.
2 min read10TaxPayroll, VAT and the annual return, month by month.
2 min read11Running a companyWhat must be registered, by when — and a director term calculator.
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