Non-Profit, Non-Governmental Organization Registration: Requirements and Application Documents — 100 Members and 1 Year of Activity

Procedure

1. 1. Check the requirements

   The beneficiaries of the organization's projects must be the general public (an unspecified large number of people), and profits must not be distributed among members. An organization cannot register if its main purpose is to support a political party or a candidate for elected office, or to spread the doctrine of a particular religion. Check that it has 100 or more regular members and a record of public-interest activities over at least the most recent 1 year.

2. 2. Identify the registration authority

   An organization whose scope of activities covers 2 or more cities or provinces (si/do) and which has offices in 2 or more cities or provinces registers with the central administrative agency in charge of its main public-interest activities. Other organizations register with the city or province where the main office is located. If the offices and the scope of activities are only within a special-case city with a population of 1,000,000 or more, registration is with that special-case city. A residential space used as an office is unlikely to be accepted.

3. 3. Prepare the documents

   Prepare the bylaws, the general meeting minutes for the current and preceding years, a project plan, a revenue and expenditure budget, the statement of accounts for the preceding year, and an organization profile. The member list states each member's name, date of birth, address and date of joining, and the general meeting minutes are accompanied by the attendees' signature sheet and photographs of the meeting.

4. 4. Application, on-site inspection and registration certificate

   Within 20 days after the application, the decision on registration is made following an on-site inspection. Attaching enough activity photographs to the record of activities makes the track record easier to explain.

5. 5. Manage changes after registration

   If the name, main projects, representative or location changes, apply for a change of registration. When changing the name or the main projects, submit the amended bylaws as well.

Required documents

• Application for registration of a non-profit, non-governmental organization
• Bylaws (with a seal affixed across adjoining pages if amended)
• General meeting minutes for the current and preceding years (including the attendees' signature sheet and photographs)
• Project plan, revenue and expenditure budget, and statement of accounts for the preceding year
• Organization profile, record of public-interest activities, and member list (100 or more members)
• Proof of use of the office

Fees

There is no application fee for registration. The office's basic fee for handling non-profit, non-governmental organization registration starts from 700,000 won, and we will advise after a consultation depending on how much the bylaws need to be revised or the general meeting minutes rewritten.

See fees and official charges for this service →

Legal basis and review date

• Assistance for Non-Profit, Non-Governmental Organizations Act, Article 2
• Assistance for Non-Profit, Non-Governmental Organizations Act, Article 4
• Assistance for Non-Profit, Non-Governmental Organizations Act, Article 11
• Enforcement Decree of the Assistance for Non-Profit, Non-Governmental Organizations Act, Article 3

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

• A residential space used as an office is unlikely to be accepted in the on-site inspection.
• The record of public-interest activities must cover at least the most recent 1 year, so collect activity records in advance.

Frequently asked questions