- Our all-in Company package for a Seoul Jusik Hoesa costs USD 5,400: registration and tax number, registration tax, a one-year business address and bank accounts.
- The only cost set by law at incorporation is registration licence tax: 0.4% of paid-in capital, minimum KRW 112,500, tripled in the Seoul overcrowding control region, plus 20% local education tax.
- Share capital is not a cost. It stays in the company’s account and pays for the business.
- Budget separately for notary and apostille in your country and for monthly accounting once the company trades.
- Foreign investment status and the D-8 visa add work and registration tax on the larger capital; they are quoted on request.
Ask three agents what it costs to open a company in Korea and you will get three numbers that cannot be compared. One excludes the address. One excludes the bank. One quietly assumes you will commission the translations yourself and learn Korean in the evenings. The useful question is not how much, but how much for what — and which part of the bill nobody can negotiate because the law fixes it.
This guide answers that question in three layers. First, our own package, line by line. Second, the costs the Korean state sets, with the statutes that set them and a calculator. Third, everything that sits around those two: your notary at home, the address, the bank, foreign investment status, the visa and the first year of running the company. At the end there are three worked budgets for typical founders.
The package, line by line
The Company package is a standard stock company (주식회사, Jusik Hoesa) with its head office in Seoul, a single shareholder and director, and nominal capital of KRW 1 million. It is the most common configuration for a founder who wants to trade with Korean customers but does not need to live in Korea. Four lines make up the price.
| Item | What it covers | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Registration package | Name check, articles of incorporation, minutes, court filing, corporate seal, business registration (사업자등록) and tax number | USD 2,500 |
| Registration tax and fees | Registration licence tax and local education tax for a Seoul head office on KRW 1 million of paid-in capital, court filing fees | USD 400 |
| Business address | Head office address for registration, one-year contract | USD 2,000 |
| Bank account | Bank selection, file preparation, KRW and USD accounts | USD 500 |
| Total | USD 5,400 |
Registration package — USD 2,500
This is the professional work: checking the trade name against the registry, drafting the articles of incorporation (정관, jeonggwan) with the mandatory contents of Article 289 of the Commercial Act, preparing the inaugural minutes and director appointments, filing at the district court registry, registering the corporate seal, and then applying to the tax office for the business registration certificate under Article 8 of the VAT Act. It also includes the signing pack you take to your notary and certified Korean translations of your documents.
Registration tax and fees — USD 400
The state’s share at incorporation, explained in detail below. On KRW 1 million of capital in Seoul it is the statutory minimum: KRW 337,500 of registration licence tax plus KRW 67,500 of local education tax, KRW 405,000 in total, plus small court fees for the electronic filing and certificates.
Business address — USD 2,000
Every company needs a head office (본점) recorded on the registry, and the tax office asks for a lease when it issues the business registration certificate. If you do not yet have premises, we provide a Seoul address on a one-year contract. It is enough to incorporate and obtain the tax ID; it is not enough for the D-8 visa, which needs independent premises.
Bank account — USD 500
A Korean company needs a Korean bank account to pay tax, salaries and suppliers. The fee covers choosing a bank that accepts your profile, preparing the file the bank will check, booking the appointment and accompanying the representative director at the branch. The result is a KRW operating account and a foreign currency account, usually in USD.
The part set by law: registration licence tax
When a company is incorporated, it pays registration licence tax (등록면허세, deungnok myeonheose) on its registered capital before the registry will accept the filing. The rate is set by Article 28(1) of the Local Tax Act: four thousandths — 0.4% — of paid-in capital for the incorporation of a for-profit corporation, with a minimum of KRW 112,500.
On top of that comes local education tax (지방교육세, jibang gyoyukse) at 20% of the registration licence tax, under Article 151 of the Local Tax Act. In effect, outside Seoul the all-in rate is 0.48% of capital.
The Seoul surcharge
Here is the provision founders discover too late. Under Article 28(2) of the Local Tax Act, registration licence tax on incorporating a company — and on increasing its capital — is charged at three times the normal rate when the head office is inside the overcrowding control region (과밀억제권역, gwamil eokje gwonyeok) designated under Article 6 of the Seoul Metropolitan Area Readjustment Planning Act. The region covers all of Seoul and a number of surrounding cities in Gyeonggi Province and Incheon.
Inside the region, then, the rate becomes 1.2% of capital, the minimum KRW 337,500, and the all-in figure with education tax 1.44%. The surcharge applies at incorporation and, for five years after it, to capital increases and to moving the head office into the region — so a company that starts outside and relocates to Seoul soon after may pay the difference later.
Two practical consequences follow. A founder who only needs a registration address and no visa can often register just outside the region and pay a third of the tax. And a founder planning a foreign investment company with KRW 100 million or more should decide the head office with the tax in mind: KRW 1.44 million in Seoul against KRW 480,000 elsewhere.
Capital is not a cost. It is the first money in your company’s bank account.
Capital: why it is not on the bill
Korea abolished its statutory minimum capital for stock companies in 2009, so the capital you choose is a business decision rather than a fee. Under Article 295 of the Commercial Act the promoters pay for the shares before incorporation, and the bank holding the money certifies payment under Article 318 — for a company with capital below KRW 1 billion, a bank balance certificate is enough. Once the company exists, the money is simply in its account.
What capital does cost is registration tax, as above, and it signals something to banks and partners. A company with KRW 1 million of capital is perfectly legal; a Korean supplier extending credit will, however, notice. Many service companies choose somewhere between KRW 10 and 50 million for that reason alone.
Foreign investment status and the D-8: what changes
If the owner intends to live in Korea, the company must be registered as a foreign-invested company (외국인투자기업). Under Article 2 of the Foreign Investment Promotion Act and Article 2 of its Enforcement Decree, that means at least KRW 100 million per foreign investor and at least 10% of the voting shares. Three things change on the bill.
First, more work: the foreign investment notification (외국인투자신고) under Article 5, remittance instructions, the bank’s certificate and the registration of the foreign-invested company (외국인투자기업 등록) under Article 21. Second, higher registration tax, because the capital is at least a hundred times larger. Third, if the visa is the goal, real premises instead of a registration address, and the visa application itself.
| Company | FDI company | FDI company + D-8 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital | From KRW 1 million | KRW 100 million+ per investor | KRW 100 million+ per investor |
| Registration tax (Seoul) | From KRW 405,000 | From KRW 1,440,000 | From KRW 1,440,000 |
| Foreign investment filings | — | Included | Included |
| Premises | Registration address | Registration address | Independent premises |
| Visa application | — | — | Included |
| Our price | USD 5,400 | On request | On request |
Costs in your own country
Your signatures are notarised at home, and because Korea is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, documents from other member states need an apostille rather than embassy legalisation. Three variables drive this part of the budget.
- Notary fees. They range from a few euros in some countries to a few hundred in others. One visit usually covers everything if the pack is prepared properly.
- Apostille fees. Usually modest per document, but they multiply: a corporate shareholder may need five or six apostilled papers where an individual needs two.
- Courier. Originals travel to Korea by tracked courier, typically a few days.
Countries outside the Apostille Convention use consular legalisation instead — foreign ministry, then Korean embassy — which costs more and takes longer. Our apostille guide has a country checker.
Branches and liaison offices
A branch office (외국회사 지점) is not incorporated, so it does not pay registration licence tax on share capital. It is reported to a foreign exchange bank under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, registered under Article 614 of the Commercial Act with a Korean representative, and then registered with the tax office. The court registration carries its own, much smaller, registration licence tax — though the Seoul surcharge in Article 28(2) of the Local Tax Act also reaches the establishment of a branch inside the overcrowding region.
A liaison office (연락사무소) is lighter still: a bank report and a unique number from the tax office, with no court registration at all. Its costs are mostly the address, the bank and the documents from the parent company. Both are quoted on request, because the parent’s paperwork varies so much.
Could you do it yourself?
Legally, yes. Nothing in Korean law requires an agent to incorporate a company, and the court registry and the National Tax Service both offer electronic filing. In practice, three things make it hard for a founder abroad.
First, language: every form, every registry entry and every tax office conversation is in Korean, and the documents must agree with each other to the letter. Second, digital identity: Korean electronic filing runs on Korean digital certificates that a non-resident without a Korean bank account or alien registration card generally cannot obtain. Third, presence: someone has to collect the seal, take the bank appointment and answer the tax office’s questions about the premises.
Founders who do try it usually end up appointing a judicial scrivener (법무사, beommusa) for the registry filing and a tax accountant (세무사, semusa) for the tax office — which is, in effect, what an all-in package coordinates for them, with one contact and one invoice.
What a cheap quote usually leaves out
When a Korean formation is advertised at a fraction of the price above, the difference is rarely efficiency. It is usually one of these.
- No address. The quote covers registration only; the lease the tax office asks for is your problem.
- No bank. ‘Introduction’ to a bank, which in practice means you find out at the branch what is missing.
- Translations extra. Every foreign document needs a certified Korean translation; billed per page after the fact.
- Tax ‘at cost’ without a number. Fine for KRW 1 million of capital; less fine when the capital is KRW 300 million and the head office is in Seoul.
- FDI as a second project. Company first, foreign investment status later — with a capital increase, a new notification and a second registration tax.
- Nothing after registration. The first VAT return arrives three months later whether anyone is watching or not.
Cheap formations are rarely efficient. They are usually incomplete.
Small costs that add up
Beyond the big lines, a Korean company generates a steady trickle of small official charges. None of them changes the decision, but they belong in an honest budget.
- Registry extracts and seal certificates. Banks, landlords and counterparties ask for a recent corporate registry extract (법인등기부등본) and seal certificate (법인인감증명서). Each costs a few hundred to a thousand won; you will order many.
- The corporate seal itself. A registered seal and a usage seal are made at incorporation and last for years.
- Digital certificates. A corporate digital certificate for Hometax and online banking is renewed annually for a small fee.
- Translations going the other way. Your home tax adviser or auditor may want English versions of Korean statements and filings.
- Registration of changes. Every change to registered matters carries a fixed registration licence tax per filing, plus court fees.
There is also a cost that sits outside Korea altogether. Owning a Korean company can have tax consequences in your country of residence — controlled foreign company rules, reporting of foreign shareholdings, treatment of dividends. These depend entirely on where you live and are worth a short conversation with your home adviser before you incorporate, not after the first dividend.
After registration: the first year
A Korean company has fixed obligations from its first quarter, and they belong in the budget from day one.
| Running cost | Legal basis | How often | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business address renewal | — | Yearly | USD 2,000 |
| Bookkeeping in Korean | Corporate Tax Act | Monthly | On request |
| VAT returns | VAT Act | Four times a year | On request |
| Payroll withholding and social insurance | Income Tax Act; insurance acts | Monthly | On request |
| Interim corporate tax payment | Corporate Tax Act | Once a year | On request |
| Annual corporate tax return | Corporate Tax Act | Once a year | On request |
| Registration of changes | Commercial Act | When something changes | On request |
Three of these deserve a word. VAT is due four times a year — preliminary and final returns for each half-year — even if the company had no sales. The annual corporate tax return is due within three months of the year-end under Article 60 of the Corporate Tax Act, with an interim payment for the first half under Article 63. And any change to registered matters — a new director, a new address, a capital increase, even the re-appointment of the same director when the term ends — must be registered within two weeks under Article 317(4) and Article 183 of the Commercial Act, with a small registration licence tax per filing.
Three worked budgets
A. The remote founder
A software consultant in Germany wants a Korean company to contract with Korean clients. No visa, no staff in Korea. Jusik Hoesa in Seoul with KRW 1 million of capital: USD 5,400 all-in, plus notary and apostille at home. From the first quarter: bookkeeping and VAT.
B. The founder who will move
A brand owner in Spain plans to move to Seoul within a year. Jusik Hoesa as a foreign investment company with KRW 150 million of capital, head office in Seoul. Registration tax rises to about KRW 2.16 million; the FDI filings, premises for the D-8 and the visa application are added. Quoted as one package, so nothing is done twice.
C. The group subsidiary
A Singapore company sets up a Korean subsidiary with KRW 300 million of capital to run sales. If the team can sit outside the overcrowding region, registration tax is about KRW 1.44 million instead of KRW 4.32 million in Seoul. Corporate shareholder documents and board resolutions mean more apostilles at home.
Across all three, the professional fee is the stable part of the budget; the variables are the capital, the city and the paperwork in the shareholder’s home country. That is why we ask about those four things before we quote, rather than publishing a single price that would be wrong for two founders out of three.
Paying for it
Our invoice is issued in USD or EUR by Voixa Consultors S.L. in Barcelona, and payment is made by bank transfer. The fee is fixed when you accept the quote; we start the day the payment arrives. Korean state charges — registration licence tax, education tax and court fees — are paid in KRW in Korea at the moment they fall due, against official receipts, and are already included in the USD 400 line of the Company package.
Two currency points are worth knowing. If you pay us in a currency other than USD, your bank’s exchange rate applies on your side. And if you are forming a foreign investment company, the capital itself travels separately: it is wired from the investor’s own account abroad into the Korean company’s account, never through ours, because the foreign currency purchase certificate must show the investor as the remitter.
On VAT: whether Spanish VAT is added to our fee depends on who the customer is. For a business client established outside Spain, the service is generally not subject to Spanish VAT; for others we confirm the position in the quote. Korean VAT does not apply to the formation fee itself.
How we quote
You tell us four things: who the shareholders are, how much capital, which city, and whether anyone needs a visa. Within one business day you receive a written quote listing every line above that applies to you — our fee, the tax at cost and the running costs for the first year. The fee is fixed; we start when it is paid.
Korean terms on your invoice
Questions readers ask
How much does it cost to register a company in South Korea?
Our all-in Company package for a Seoul Jusik Hoesa is USD 5,400: registration and tax number, registration tax on KRW 1 million capital, a one-year business address and bank accounts.
How is the registration tax calculated?
Under Article 28 of the Local Tax Act: 0.4% of paid-in capital, minimum KRW 112,500, tripled in the Seoul overcrowding control region, plus 20% local education tax under Article 151.
Is the KRW 100 million for FDI a fee?
No. It is the company’s share capital and remains available to the business.
Is there a minimum capital?
No statutory minimum. KRW 100 million per foreign investor is needed only for foreign investment status and the D-8 visa.
What are the running costs after registration?
Address renewal, bookkeeping, quarterly VAT returns, payroll filings if you hire, the interim and annual corporate tax filings, and registration of any changes.
Can I avoid the Seoul surcharge?
Yes, by registering the head office outside the overcrowding control region — provided the address works for your business and, if relevant, your visa.
Alexander Baranov
Founder of the BCA Group · cross-border corporate and tax adviser since 2008
Alexander advises foreign founders and groups on company formation, tax structuring and corporate law in more than 40 jurisdictions across Europe, the Gulf, Asia and Latin America. He is the author of nine books on international business and tax and writes regularly for professional finance and tax journals. He works in English, German, Spanish and Russian.
This guide is based on the Korean statutes cited in the text and on our own filings. It is reviewed when the law or official rates change.