Permits & Business Reports: Frequently Asked Questions

Under the Building Act, a general restaurant falls under Class 2 neighborhood living facilities. A light-meal restaurant (such as a snack bar or café) or a bakery is a Class 1 neighborhood living facility if the total floor area used for that purpose in the same building is less than 300 square meters, and a Class 2 neighborhood living facility if it is 300 square meters or more. The city/county/district office that receives the business report checks the building register and the land use plan confirmation, so check the use stated in the building register before signing a lease.

Legal basis: Enforcement Decree of the Building Act, Annex 1, No. 3, item (b), and No. 4, items (h) and (i); Enforcement Rule of the Food Sanitation Act, Article 42(2), subparagraphs 1 and 2

Yes. A restaurant that has filed a business report must file a report of change with the city/county/district office if the business operator's name (for a corporation, the representative's name), trade name, business location, or business floor area changes, and must also file a report when closing the business. When expanding the business floor area, first check that the added space is also in a building use for which a business report can be filed.

Legal basis: Food Sanitation Act, Article 37(4); Enforcement Decree of the Food Sanitation Act, Article 26, subparagraphs 1 to 4

Under the Building Act, barbershops and beauty salons fall under Class 1 neighborhood living facilities. The city/county/district office that receives a beauty business report checks the building register, the land use plan confirmation, and the beautician license through the shared use of administrative information, so check the use stated in the building register before signing a lease. The report can be filed only after you have installed facilities that meet the facility and equipment standards for the business type, and if necessary the city/county/district office inspects the facilities within 30 days after issuing the report certificate.

Legal basis: Enforcement Decree of the Building Act, Annex 1, No. 3, item (c); Enforcement Rule of the Public Health Control Act, Article 3(1), (2) and (4)

Yes. Businesses that have filed a business report, such as general restaurants, light-meal restaurants, and bakeries, must also file a report of closure with the city/county/district office that received the business report when they close. If you report closure to the tax office or your business registration is cancelled, the city/county/district office may cancel the business report on its own authority, but because this is a measure the administrative agency may choose to take, it is safer to take care of closing the business report separately. You cannot file a report of closure during the period of a disposition such as a business suspension, or after receiving advance notice of a disposition until the disposition becomes final.

Legal basis: Food Sanitation Act, Article 37(4), (7) and (8); Enforcement Decree of the Food Sanitation Act, Article 25(1), subparagraph 8

Yes. A light-meal restaurant cooks and sells food such as tea, ice cream and snacks without allowing drinking, and a general restaurant allows drinking incidental to meals. To sell alcohol, you need a general restaurant business report, and since the building use requirements for a general restaurant may differ, check the building register first.

Legal basis: Enforcement Decree of the Food Sanitation Act, Article 21 subparagraph 8 items (a) and (b)

The basics are the business report form and the food hygiene training certificate received in advance. The building register, land use plan confirmation, health examination results, LPG facility completion inspection certificate, and, for multi-use establishments, the safety facility completion certificate are checked by the district office through shared administrative information, and you submit copies if you do not consent to that check. Some documents are needed only in certain cases, such as a water quality test report if you use groundwater, or proof of the right to use an adjoining outdoor space as part of the business premises.

Legal basis: Enforcement Rule of the Food Sanitation Act, Article 42(1) and (2)

Yes. After issuing the report certificate for a food service business, the district office must check within 1 month whether the premises match what was reported. The certificate is issued without delay once you have the facilities and file the report, so keep the facility standards and the reported area and layout unchanged until the inspection. If you lose the certificate, you can get it reissued with a reissuance application.

Legal basis: Enforcement Rule of the Food Sanitation Act, Article 42(8), (10) and (11)

An escape room cafe is a multi-use business, so the fire safety procedures come first. Before installing safety facilities, report to the head of the fire headquarters or fire station with the design documents attached; after construction, file a completion report to receive a certificate of complete safety facilities, and take out fire liability insurance. If you prepare and sell drinks or snacks, file a separate business report such as a rest restaurant under the Food Sanitation Act, and check that the building use fits that business.

Legal basis: Special Act on the Safety Control of Publicly Used Establishments, Article 9(1), (3) and (5) and Article 13-2(1); Enforcement Decree of the same Act, Article 2 subparagraph 8; Enforcement Rule of the same Act, Article 2 subparagraph 4

A business that mainly makes and sells bread, rice cakes, or confectionery must file a business report with the city/county/district office as a bakery business. A bakery business is a food service business in which drinking alcohol is not permitted; after preparing the facilities, you submit the business report form (Enforcement Rule of the Food Sanitation Act, Form No. 37) with the hygiene education certificate you obtained in advance and other documents. If you sell the bread you make directly to final consumers at the same premises, you may instead report an instant-sale manufacturing and processing business, in which case you also submit a description of the food types and manufacturing methods.

Legal basis: Food Sanitation Act, Article 37(4); Enforcement Decree of the same Act, Article 21(2) and (8)(f), Article 25(1)(2) and (8); Enforcement Rule of the same Act, Article 42(1)

It must be done in advance, before the business opens or before the person starts work, and then every year after that. It applies to business operators and employees who directly engage in cooking, storing, transporting, or selling food; people who only transport or sell fully packaged food are excluded. A health examination is valid for 1 year, and the next examination must be taken within 30 days before or after the expiry date. Having a person who has not had a health examination work in the business is subject to an administrative fine of up to KRW 3,000,000.

Legal basis: Food Sanitation Act, Articles 40(1) and (3) and 101(3) subparagraph 1; Enforcement Rule of the same Act, Article 49(1) and (2); Rules on Health Examinations of Persons Engaged in the Food Sanitation Field, Article 2(2) through (4)

Yes. If a business operator required to take the training does not work in the business directly or operates in two or more places, they can designate a food hygiene manager among the employees to take the training instead. A person holding a cook, dietitian or sanitarian license does not need to take the pre-opening hygiene training to start a food service business. Unless there is a special reason, the operator must not have anyone who has not completed food hygiene training work in the business.

Legal basis: Food Sanitation Act, Article 41(3)-(5)

It must be taken before filing the business report, and it is 6 hours for rest restaurants, general restaurants and bakeries. The education taken in advance by a person intending to start a business is held in person, and if there is an unavoidable reason it may be taken after starting business. After starting business, 3 hours of food hygiene education must be taken every year, and when switching among rest restaurant, general restaurant and bakery businesses, the initial education already taken is recognized. A person holding a cook, dietitian or sanitarian license does not need to take the initial education for a food service business.

Legal basis: Food Sanitation Act, Article 41(1), (2), (4) and (6); Enforcement Rule of the Food Sanitation Act, Article 52(1)1, (2)3 and (3)2

In principle it must, but a business located in a station, terminal, amusement area or similar place with public restrooms, a business inside a building with shared restrooms, or a business with a convenient restroom nearby need not install a separate one. If a restroom is installed, it must be placed where it does not affect the kitchen, waterproofed with concrete or similar material, built as a flush toilet with a septic tank, and equipped with hand-washing facilities. In some cases, such as restaurants in traditional markets or at beaches, the city, county or district head may set separate facility standards, so check the standards of the competent district office before filing the business report.

Legal basis: Enforcement Rule of the Food Sanitation Act, Article 36, Annex 14 item 8(a)4) and 5)

General restaurants, rest restaurants and bakeries may allow pets, limited to dogs and cats, if they meet the facility standards and operating rules for pet-accompanied business premises. As a facility, partitions or fences must be installed so that pets cannot enter food handling areas such as the kitchen or ingredient storage. During operation, the business must post a sign at the entrance or similar place stating that it is a pet-accompanied business, have at least one movement restriction device such as dedicated pet chairs, cages or a separate pet area, and follow operating rules such as using food covers, storing pet items separately and checking vaccination status.

Legal basis: Enforcement Rule of the Food Sanitation Act, Annex 14 item 8(a)1)(b) and (b)1)(h); Annex 17 item 7

Yes, if the total floor area of the business premises of a rest restaurant, general restaurant or bakery is 100㎡ or more (66㎡ or more if underground). Such premises are multi-use business establishments, so safety facilities must be installed to standard and the certificate of completed safety facilities issued by the head of the fire headquarters or fire station must be attached to the business report. However, premises on the first floor above ground or a floor directly at ground level whose main entrance connects directly to the ground outside the building are excluded from multi-use business establishments. Before installing safety facilities, a report with design documents must be filed with the fire station in advance.

Legal basis: Special Act on the Safety Control of Publicly Used Establishments, Article 9(1), (3) and (5); Enforcement Decree of the same Act, Article 2 Item 1(a); Enforcement Rule of the Food Sanitation Act, Article 42

When a business is transferred, the transferee succeeds to the status of the existing business operator and must file a report of succession to business operator status with the city/county/district office within 1 month. The same applies when all of the business facilities are acquired through a court auction, public sale, or similar process. The grounds that restrict filing a business report apply equally to the successor, so check them before the takeover.

Legal basis: Food Sanitation Act, Article 39(1) to (3) and (6)

Submit the report of succession to business operator status to the city/county/district office that received the business report, attaching the existing business report certificate and a copy of documents proving the transfer. If you have completed food hygiene education in advance, attach the completion certificate, and if you have delegated the filing, attach a copy of the delegator's ID bearing their handwritten signature and a letter of authorization. A business that is a multi-use establishment also needs proof of fire liability insurance, and the health checkup result is verified through the shared use of administrative information (if you do not consent to this verification, attach a copy). If you plan to change the trade name, you can report it together with the succession report.

Legal basis: Food Sanitation Act, Article 39(3); Enforcement Rule of the Food Sanitation Act, Article 48(1), (2) and (5)

The heir succeeds to the business operator's status and must file a report of succession within 1 month. Submit the report of succession to business operator status (Enforcement Rules of the Food Sanitation Act, Form 49) with the existing business report certificate and documents proving heirship to the city, county or district office that accepted the business report. The office must notify whether the report is accepted within 3 days of receipt, and a restaurant that is a multi-use business must also submit proof of fire liability insurance.

Legal basis: Food Sanitation Act, Article 39(1), (3) and (4); Enforcement Rules of the Food Sanitation Act, Article 48(1)

You may face criminal penalties. A person who acquires a business by transfer, or takes over all of its facilities through an auction or similar procedure, must file a report of succession to business operator status with the city, county or district office within 1 month, and violating this can be punished by imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to KRW 30 million. The office must notify whether the report is accepted within 3 days of receipt, and if it does not notify acceptance or an extension of the processing period within that time, the report is deemed accepted on the day after the period ends. Once the takeover contract is completed, file the succession report within the 1-month deadline first.

Legal basis: Food Sanitation Act, Article 39(1) to (5) and Article 97 subparagraph 1

You cannot file a report of closure. Filing a report of closure is restricted during the period of an administrative sanction such as a business suspension, or from the time you receive advance notice of the disposition until the disposition becomes final. Even if you transfer the business, the effect of a sanction imposed on the previous operator passes to the transferee for 1 year from the date the sanction period ends, and pending disposition proceedings may also continue against the transferee. However, it does not pass to the transferee if the transferee proves that they did not know of the disposition or the violation at the time of the takeover, so check whether any disposition is pending before taking over.

Legal basis: Food Sanitation Act, Article 37(8), Article 78

It depends on the case. A mayor, county head, district head, or similar authority may impose a penalty surcharge of up to KRW 1,000,000,000 in place of a business suspension, with the amount set according to the type and severity of the violation under standards in the Presidential Decree. However, serious violations specified by the Act and Ordinance of the Prime Minister, such as violating the ban on selling hazardous food, cannot be converted into a penalty surcharge. If the penalty surcharge is not paid by the deadline, the surcharge may be cancelled and a business suspension imposed.

Legal basis: Food Sanitation Act, Article 82(1), (2) and (4)

It becomes subject to an order to close the place of business and to criminal penalties. If a business continues to operate in violation of a business suspension order, the mayor, county head, district head, or similar authority may revoke the business license or registration or order the place of business closed. A business operator who filed a business report, such as a general restaurant or a light-meal restaurant, and continues operating in violation of a business suspension order is subject to imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to KRW 30,000,000, and a business operator with a business license is subject to imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to KRW 50,000,000. To contest a business suspension, the business must stop operating during the suspension period and use the procedures of filing an administrative appeal and applying for a stay of execution.

Legal basis: Food Sanitation Act, Articles 75(1) and (2), 95 subparagraph 5, and 97 subparagraph 7

Unless there is a special reason, the district office or other authority must issue the disposition within 14 days from the date the opinion submission or hearing procedure is completed. Dispositions such as business suspension or closure of the business premises must be made in writing stating the grounds and content, so if you were only told the suspension schedule verbally, check whether you have received the written disposition. You can file an administrative appeal within 90 days from the date you learned of the disposition by receiving it, so keep a record of the date you received the written disposition.

Legal basis: Enforcement Decree of the Food Sanitation Act, Article 52(1) and (2); Administrative Appeals Act, Article 27(1)