Expanding a French business into South Korea

The France–Korea framework

UN Comtrade data put French goods exports to Korea at USD 6.89 billion in 2025. The largest categories were machinery (USD 841 million), electrical equipment (USD 641 million), leather goods and travel articles (USD 588 million), inorganic chemicals (USD 538 million), precious stones and metals (USD 536 million), perfumes and cosmetics (USD 409 million), aircraft (USD 390 million) and pharmaceuticals (USD 301 million), followed by apparel, steel, beverages, dairy, instruments and vehicles. French customs counted 6,355 French exporters to Korea in 2024 and bilateral trade of EUR 13.7 billion; the French-Korean Chamber of Commerce argues that in value-added terms French exports are higher still, because much French content reaches Korea through third countries.

Investment runs deeper than trade. The FKCCI’s 2026 report counted about 220 French companies with offices in Korea, employing around 33,000 people — 38% of them in luxury and cosmetics — with LVMH, Valeo and Renault the largest employers. Korean trade statistics rank France among the top three foreign investors in Korea. President Macron’s state visit on 2–3 April 2026, the first by a French president since 2015 and in the 140th year of diplomatic relations, raised ties to a global strategic partnership (partenariat stratégique global) with a target of USD 20 billion in trade by 2030 and cooperation in nuclear energy, defence, space and culture.

Four ways in

1. A Korean importer, distributor or department store

Luxury, beauty, wine, spirits and gourmet food often enter Korea through Korean importers and the department-store groups that dominate premium retail. The importer holds the product registrations and the liquor licence. Keep the relationship buy-and-resell to avoid a permanent establishment (국내사업장, gungnae saeopjang), and register the trademark before signing; see trademark registration.

2. A liaison office

Industrial, aerospace and energy groups often start with a liaison office (연락사무소, yeollak samuso) for partnerships, bids and technical support, without Korean income; see liaison offices.

3. A branch

A branch of the SAS (société par actions simplifiée) or SA (société anonyme) registered under Article 614 of the Commercial Act can trade and employ. France taxes companies territorially: profits of a foreign branch are generally outside French corporate tax and taxed only in Korea. The parent remains liable for everything the branch does. See branch or subsidiary.

4. A Korean subsidiary

Most French companies that intend to stay form a Jusik Hoesa (주식회사, jusik hoesa), the Korean share company; one shareholder and one director are enough, and the French parent can be the sole shareholder. Cosmetics, food, wine and medical products need a Korean responsible importer or seller, and French brands usually want that to be their own company once volumes justify it. With at least KRW 100 million of capital the company is a registered foreign investment under the Foreign Investment Promotion Act, which supports the D-8 visa for a director from France; see the KRW 100 million rule.

Company documents from France

Typical documents for a French corporate shareholder.

France and Korea both apply the Hague Apostille Convention. French apostilles are now issued for most documents by the regional chambers of notaries rather than the courts of appeal, following the 2024 reform, and electronic apostilles are available; notarised company decisions go to the notary first. Korean bodies want the Kbis recent — under three months — and the decision signed by the legal representative named in it: the président of an SAS, the directeur général or board of an SA, the gérant of a SARL. Documents can be in French or English; Korean translations are made in Seoul. See apostilles for Korea.

Personal documents for the director

Typical documents for a French director moving to Korea.

Korean directors register a personal seal; a French director instead signs before a notary, and the apostilled signature serves the same purpose. Order civil status extracts shortly before use: Korean immigration offices usually want them recent, and family members joining later will need their own set.

Setting up the Korean company

The investment is notified to a Korean foreign exchange bank, the capital is wired from the French company’s account in euros and certified, and the company is registered with the court and the tax office; importers add a customs clearance code and, where needed, the sector licences. With documents ready, the Korean part takes two to four weeks; see registering a company in Korea and annual compliance.

Trading under the EU–Korea FTA

The EU–Korea Free Trade Agreement (한-EU FTA, han-EU FTA), applied since 2011 and fully in force since 2015, has removed duties on almost all French industrial goods and most agricultural ones, and protects French geographical indications — Champagne, Cognac, Bordeaux, Roquefort and others — in Korea. Preference depends on origin: for consignments above EUR 6,000 the origin declaration must be made by an approved exporter (exportateur agréé) authorised by French customs; below that, any exporter can declare. The Korean importer claims the preferential rate, and Korea Customs can verify origin later.

Regulation matters more than tariffs. Cosmetics need a Korean responsible seller (책임판매업자, chaegim panmaeeopja) and Korean labelling; see cosmetics and food rules. Wine and spirits need a liquor import licence, Korean labels and import inspection; food needs foreign plant registration — see food and beverage imports. Pharmaceuticals and medical devices go through the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, with Korean clinical or bridging data sometimes required; see pharmaceutical imports. Aerospace and defence items need French export licences and Korean end-user checks.

Korean tax and the treaty

Domestic rates include local income tax. Source: PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Korea.

The Korean subsidiary pays corporate tax at 10% to 25% plus local income tax and charges 10% VAT; see Korean corporate tax. The treaty’s lower dividend rate needs a 10% holding — a lower bar than the 25% in many treaties, useful for French minority investors and joint ventures. To claim it, the French company gives the Korean payer a limited tax rate application (제한세율 적용신청서, jehan seyul jeogyong sincheongseo) with an attestation de résidence fiscale before payment. French groups compare poorly with British and German ones, which get 5%; see Korea’s treaties ranked.

French tax on Korean profits

A French company holding at least 5% of the Korean company for at least two years can elect the parent–subsidiary regime (régime mère-fille): dividends are 95% exempt from French corporate tax, with a 5% add-back for costs. Because so little French tax remains, the Korean withholding is largely a final cost. France’s controlled foreign company rule (article 209 B du CGI) applies where a foreign subsidiary is taxed at less than 40% of the French tax that would apply — a test a Korean company paying normal rates usually passes, though a small company in the 11% bracket should check it. Branch profits are outside French corporate tax under the territorial principle. Transfer pricing between the French parent and the Korean subsidiary must satisfy both tax administrations; French documentation rules apply to larger groups. For luxury and beauty distributors, the usual audit question in Korea is whether a subsidiary that runs marketing, counters and customer service earns enough of the margin for those functions; a benchmarked distributor margin and a written intercompany agreement answer it. A French individual who owns Korean shares directly pays 15% Korean withholding and French tax on the dividend with a credit for the Korean tax.

Staff, visas and Korean labour law

French citizens can visit Korea visa-free for up to 90 days, subject to Korea’s electronic travel authorisation rules at the time of travel, and young people can use the France–Korea working holiday programme. A French investor-director uses the D-8 corporate investment visa (기업투자 비자, gieop tuja bija); see D-8 requirements. Expatriates and young professionals on a VIE (volontariat international en entreprise) seconded to a Korean branch or subsidiary usually use D-7 or E-7; see the E-7 guide. Korea and France have had a social security agreement since 2007: posted employees can stay in the French pension system for the agreed period with a certificate of coverage.

French employers should note two changes in Korean labour law. The December 2024 Supreme Court ruling on ordinary wage (통상임금, tongsang imgeum) widened the base for overtime pay, and the amendments to the Trade Union Act known as the Yellow Envelope Act (노란봉투법, noranbongtubeop), in force from March 2026, extend bargaining duties towards subcontractors’ unions in some cases and limit damages claims against strikers. The FKCCI has set up a task force with Korean authorities on their application. Groups that use subcontractors for logistics, cleaning, security or production in Korea should review those contracts and their bargaining exposure, and budget for the higher overtime base when setting salaries and bonuses. See employing staff in Korea and social insurance.

French support for the move

• Team France Export and Business France Korea provide market studies, partner searches, trade missions and the VIE programme.
• The French-Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), founded in 1986, connects French companies in Korea, publishes surveys and runs events in Seoul and Busan.
• Bpifrance Assurance Export offers prospecting insurance and export credit insurance for Korean buyers.
• The French Embassy’s economic department and the CCEF — French foreign trade advisers — support strategic sectors and regulatory dialogue.

Where French companies win

Korea is one of the world’s most sophisticated markets for luxury and beauty, and France is Korea’s largest supplier of cosmetics, perfume and wine; department stores, duty-free and online channels all matter. Industrial France is just as present: equipment and intermediate goods make up about 70% of French exports, supplying Korean shipyards, chip fabs, battery makers and carmakers; aerospace and space cooperation is long-standing, with Korean satellites launched from French Guiana. Nuclear, hydrogen and offshore wind are growing fields, as are pharmaceuticals and medical technology and, increasingly, French start-ups in AI, quantum and deep tech.

The Korean market rewards speed, Korean-language service and local presence. French brands that win usually have a Korean subsidiary with Korean marketing and customer service, invest in Korean social commerce and work with the department-store groups rather than around them; see Korean marketplaces.

Luxury and beauty in practice

Premium retail in Korea runs through a few department-store groups, duty-free operators and a fast-growing online channel. Department stores usually work on a concession model: the brand runs its counter with its own staff and pays the store a commission on sales, so a brand selling directly needs a Korean company to employ staff, hold stock and invoice. Duty-free sales depend on tourism flows and are sensitive to Chinese travel and resellers. Parallel imports are legal in Korea for genuine goods, which makes price discipline across Asia important, and Korean consumers compare prices with Paris and Tokyo in real time.

Beauty brands face a different competitor: Korean cosmetics themselves. French brands win on heritage, fragrance and dermocosmetics, and increasingly through Korean social commerce, live shopping and collaborations with Korean creators. All of it needs Korean-language content and customer service, and compliance with Korean advertising rules for cosmetics claims.

Protect the brand

Korea is a first-to-file trademark system. File with KIPO — directly or through the Madrid system via INPI — before the first trade fair or distributor meeting, in Latin letters and Hangul. Geographical indications listed in the EU–Korea FTA are protected without registration by the producer; other regional names are not. Monitor Korean marketplaces and social commerce platforms for counterfeits and parallel-import listings that misuse your marks. See trademark registration in Korea.

A worked example

A family-owned Cognac house has sold through a Korean importer for a decade. To control pricing and launch a premium line, it forms a Jusik Hoesa in Seoul with KRW 300 million of capital, wholly owned by the French SAS. The Kbis and statuts are apostilled; the président’s decision and power of attorney are notarised and apostilled. The Korean company obtains a liquor import licence, registers the products and arranges Korean labels, and files the brand with KIPO in Latin letters and Hangul. Shipments leave Cognac with an approved exporter’s origin declaration and enter Korea duty-free under the FTA, with the geographical indication protected.

A French manager moves to Seoul on a D-8 visa, staying in the French pension system under the social security agreement; a VIE joins for marketing. In year three the Korean company earns KRW 600 million of profit, pays Korean corporate tax and a KRW 400 million dividend with 10% Korean withholding; in France the dividend is 95% exempt under the parent–subsidiary regime.

Mistakes we see

1. A Kbis older than three months at filing.
2. Decisions signed by someone other than the legal representative shown on the Kbis.
3. Shipping above EUR 6,000 without approved exporter status.
4. Letting the importer hold the brand’s registrations with no transfer clause.
5. No treaty application before the first dividend.
6. Ignoring the 2024 ordinary-wage ruling and the 2026 union law in Korean HR planning.
7. Filing the trademark after the launch.

Korean terms you will meet

Questions readers ask

About the author

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.

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