Register a business in Korea as a foreigner: sole proprietor or corporation, and what your visa needs

A foreign founder in Korea can register a business in two ways, at two different offices. Each way produces a different set of numbers.

Which one you need depends on two outside things. One is the visa you hold or want. The other is the government package you still hope to apply for.

Every rule below comes from the statute or from the issuing body's own text. Where two official sources disagree on a rule stated here, the guide prints both.

Two structures, two different offices

A sole proprietor, 개인사업자, deals with the tax office alone. Article 8 of the VAT Act (부가가치세법) gives a business 20 days from the day it starts to apply for registration. A new business may also apply before it starts.

You do not have to use the office for your own district. The same article lets you file with any tax office, and treats that filing as made to the office for your premises.

A corporation, 법인, starts somewhere else. Under the Commercial Act (상법), a company comes into existence when it registers its incorporation where its head office sits. The registry office there assigns its registration number.

Only then does the corporation register for tax. The Corporate Tax Act (법인세법) requires a new corporation to register with its tax office. Filing the incorporation report, 법인설립신고, counts as filing that registration.

Registering as a sole proprietor

The National Tax Service (NTS) publishes the document list. For an individual it starts with the application form and a copy of the lease, if you rent the premises. A business that needs a licence adds a copy of it, and a partnership adds its partnership agreement.

Foreigners add one item: a copy of the alien registration card (외국인등록증) or passport. NTS also asks for a form appointing a tax administrator (납세관리인) in two cases. One is when you do not usually stay at the premises; the other is 6 months or more abroad.

NTS's procedure page says the business owner must sign the application form in their own hand. It also covers the online route.

With a Hometax account and a certificate (공인인증서), NTS says you can apply and submit documents without visiting a tax office. You can also receive the certificate online once registration completes.

The paper follows quickly. The VAT Act's enforcement decree gives the tax office 2 days from the application to issue the certificate, and some days do not count. It may extend that by up to 5 days when it needs to check the premises or the business.

Registering early has a limit. The same decree lets the tax office refuse a registration filed before the start date when it judges that you will not actually start the business.

NTS's procedure page defines one more term you will meet. A 간이과세자, a simplified taxpayer, is an individual business expecting annual supply below 10,400만원, which is KRW 104 million.

The tax office registers a business; it does not decide what your visa lets you do.

The Immigration Act (출입국관리법) lets a foreigner stay within the scope of their status. Activity that belongs to another status needs the Minister of Justice's permission in advance.

The 10-digit 사업자등록번호, decoded

Both structures end with a 10-digit business registration number, written xxx-xx-xxxxx. NTS's scheme, republished on the government's 110 call-centre site, gives each block a job.

Read the first three digits as a serial, not as a tax-office or region code. NTS labels them 일련번호코드 and issues 101 to 999 in order.

Code 84 covers a foreign corporation's head office, branch or liaison office. Invest KOREA describes a foreign-invested company as a domestic corporation established under the Commercial Code.

The 13-digit 법인등록번호 is a separate number

A corporation holds a second number. The Supreme Court rule builds the 법인등록번호 from 13 digits. Four identify the registry office, two the type of corporation, and seven are a serial.

The registry assigns it at the incorporation registration. For a foreign corporation, that means its first registration of an office in Korea. A sole proprietor holds only the 10-digit number, while a corporation holds both.

Checking someone else's number

NTS runs two checks, published as an open API on data.go.kr. The status check takes the number alone. It returns whether the business is operating, suspended or closed, its tax type, and any closure date.

The authenticity check matches the number against the open date and the representative's name. NTS updates the data every 30 minutes, and a new business takes 1 to 2 days to appear.

Setting up a 주식회사

The government's plain-language law guide lists the steps in order. Form a group of promoters, choose the company name and business purpose, and have the promoters write the articles of incorporation (정관).

Then decide the share issue and complete the incorporation, either by the promoters alone or by subscription. The last step is the incorporation registration, the incorporation report and the business registration.

The Commercial Act puts a clock on that last stage. Where the promoters take all the shares, article 317 allows 2 weeks for the incorporation registration. The count starts when the checks under articles 299 and 300 finish.

Capital no longer blocks the door. The current Commercial Act sets no minimum capital. Article 329 only requires each par-value share to be KRW 100 or more.

The old KRW 50 million minimum went with the 2009 amendment (법률 제9746호). That amendment also eased small incorporations.

A company with under KRW 1 billion in capital, set up by its promoters alone, can use a bank balance certificate (잔고증명서) in place of a payment custody certificate.

KISED runs startbiz.go.kr for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. It is an online incorporation system covering five company types, from 주식회사 to 합자회사.

Whether it serves foreign promoters is not stated anywhere this guide could find. Its preparation checklist assumes a 주민등록등본 address and a personal bank certificate.

The same checklist sets a floor on people. A 주식회사 needs at least two, the representative and an auditor with no shares. A 유한회사 or 유한책임회사 can be set up by one person.

KRW 100 million is the foreign-investment threshold

The figure comes from investment law, not company law. The Foreign Investment Promotion Act's enforcement decree counts KRW 100 million or more as foreign direct investment (FDI) in two cases.

One is where the foreigner holds 10% or more of the voting shares. The other is where the foreigner holds shares and sends or appoints an officer to the company.

Invest KOREA adds the other half. A foreigner may set up a corporation with less than KRW 100 million. That company does not count as FDI, and falls under the stock-acquisition notice in the Foreign Exchange Transaction Act instead.

Invest KOREA's sequence has five steps. Notify the FDI, remit the funds, register the corporation, register the business, and register as a foreign-invested company.

It puts the whole run at about two weeks. It also says the residence visa comes after company registration.

Which structure your visa needs

For the D-8-4 start-up visa, the Global Start-up Immigration Center is the operator of OASIS. It lists three requirements: a degree or the center's letter of recommendation, 60 points or more, and corporation establishment.

The degree is a bachelor's degree, or an associate degree from Korea. The center's Korean page heads the section 법인사업자, a corporate business.

OASIS-8, the operator's course supporting corporation establishment, carries 15 points. The operator's 60-point example lists it as 2 weeks, which is the course, not the time incorporation takes.

For the investment D-8, Invest KOREA sets out the corporate investor route. A foreigner who brings in KRW 100 million or more from abroad, and sets up and runs a corporation under the Foreign Investment Promotion Act, may apply.

KOTRA's 2025 visa guide lists a copy of the business registration certificate and the certificate of incorporation registration among the D-8 documents. So a D-8 file includes both documents.

The D-9-1 trade visa points the other way. The operator's D-9-1 page, headed private business, asks for a business (individual) registration certificate.

That registration must be a "trade business", 무역업. The applicant also needs a lease for an independent premises in their own name.

The points test sits beside it: 60 or more of 160, with at least 10 from required items. The D-9-1 points guide walks through it.

When you register decides which package you can apply for

KISED's two entry packages sit on either side of the registration date. The rules below come from the 2026 announcements, and each year's 공고 sets its own dates.

KISED's 예비창업패키지 page words the test as no business registration, individual or corporate, and no incorporation registration. It anchors both to the announcement date.

The 2026 announcement words it differently. You must not hold a business registration certificate in your own name, or legal power to represent a corporation. Its reference date is '26.1.22, which is 22 January 2026.

It then adds that a business or corporate registration completed on or after '26.1.23 does not bar you. A representative director, an each-representative director, a joint representative director, or an inside director with representative power cannot apply.

The two texts disagree. The page ties the test to the announcement date and to any registration.

The announcement ties it to 22 January and to holding a certificate or representative power. Read the current year's announcement, not the programme page.

Selection does not end the matter. Selectees must found a business, registered in the industry of their selected item, by 2 months before the agreement ends. The announcement allows either a sole proprietorship or a corporation.

The same announcement mentions foreigners in its identity step. Applicants pass a real-name check through Seoul Credit Rating & Information (SCI). Foreigners with no real-name data on file must register it first.

KISED's 초기창업패키지 page opens that package to companies up to 3 years old. The 2026 announcement counted those years as 23 January 2023 to 22 January 2026.

An individual counts from the 개업연월일, the open date on the certificate. A corporation counts from the 법인설립등기일, the incorporation registration date. Both must have started business and completed registration.

That announcement also allows for a foreign representative. The representative may present with an interpreter's help, or a listed officer may present instead with a letter of delegation.

In 2026 the two packages met at the same date. 초기창업패키지 took businesses dated up to 22 January 2026. 예비창업패키지 tested who held a certificate on 22 January, and let in anyone who registered from 23 January.

Current announcements are in the programme catalogue.