Establishing an Agricultural Company Corporation — Farmer Requirement, Investment Ratio and Business Entity Registration

Procedure

1. 1. Check the farmer requirement for investors

   A farmer is a person who meets one of the following: farms 1,000 m² or more of farmland, sells agricultural products worth 1,200,000 won or more a year, or engages in farming for 90 days or more in 1 year. This is proven with a farmer confirmation certificate or an agricultural business entity registration confirmation certificate. In an agricultural company corporation, non-farmers may also invest as long as there is at least 1 farmer.

2. 2. Design the investment ratio and business purposes

   Investment by non-farmers is limited to 90% or less where total investment is 8,000,000,000 won or less, and, where total investment exceeds 8,000,000,000 won, to no more than total investment minus 800,000,000 won. Business purposes are set within the scope recognized as agricultural, such as agricultural management, distribution, processing and sale of agricultural products, and contract farm work. There is no statutory minimum capital, but if you plan to use support programs, it is better to decide the size in advance.

3. 3. Draft the articles of incorporation and minutes, and incorporate

   Draft the articles of incorporation, the shareholder register and the minutes of the promoters' meeting and the board of directors so that the farmer investment and business purpose requirements are shown. When the documents are ready, file the report of establishment of an agricultural company corporation with the city, county or district (si/gun/gu) office having jurisdiction over the principal office, complete incorporation registration within 14 days from the date of receiving the report confirmation certificate, and then complete business registration. A report of change is also filed when important matters such as the name, purposes or amount of investment change.

4. 4. Agricultural business entity registration and follow-up management

   After incorporation, the corporation must register as an agricultural business entity with the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service in order to access policy funds, support programs and tax reductions. After that, check at every change in shareholding that the farmer requirement is not broken by a change of investors.

Required documents

• Farmer confirmation certificate or agricultural business entity registration confirmation certificate of the farmer investor
• Articles of incorporation
• Shareholder register; minutes of the promoters' meeting and the board of directors
• Report of establishment filed with the city, county or district (si/gun/gu) office (the report confirmation certificate is attached at incorporation registration)
• Investors' identification and certificates of seal impression
• Lease contract for the place of business, or documents on the land and facilities
• After incorporation: certificate of registered matters of the corporation and business registration certificate (for agricultural business entity registration)

Fees

In the industry, fees for preparing the incorporation documents of an agricultural company corporation generally run from several hundred thousand won to the 1,000,000 won range and vary depending on whether design of the investment structure and business entity registration are included. Incorporation registration costs and the registration and license tax are separate. We will advise after reviewing your plan in a consultation.

See fees and official charges for this service →

Legal basis and review date

• Act on Fostering and Supporting Agricultural and Fisheries Business Entities, Article 19
• Enforcement Decree of the Act on Fostering and Supporting Agricultural and Fisheries Business Entities, Article 18
• Enforcement Decree of the Framework Act on Agriculture, Rural Community and Food Industry, Article 3
• Act on Fostering and Supporting Agricultural and Fisheries Business Entities, Article 16
• Act on Fostering and Supporting Agricultural and Fisheries Business Entities, Article 4
• Enforcement Decree of the Restriction of Special Local Taxation Act, Article 5-2

Checked against the statutes on 2026-09-30

Statutes and public notices change, so each case needs to be checked individually. Statute titles are given in English for reference. The Korean statutes are the authoritative text.

Check these first

• When investors change or capital is increased, check that the farmer requirement and the limit on non-farmer investment are not broken.
• Tax reductions and policy funds are not available before business entity registration.

Frequently asked questions