How to Report a Foreign Company's Liaison Office or Branch in Korea

Procedure

Procedure

1. 01

   1. Choose between a branch and a liaison office — If you want to sign contracts and generate sales in Korea, report a branch; if you only need liaison work, market research or research and development for the head office, report a liaison office. A liaison office cannot carry out profit-generating business, so define the work you will do in Korea in concrete terms first.

2. 02

   2. Designate a foreign exchange bank and file the establishment report — A foreign company that wants to set up and operate a domestic branch designates one foreign exchange bank as its transaction bank and submits the report on the establishment of a domestic branch of a foreign company to the head of that bank. A domestic branch that will handle finance-related business, securities or insurance-related business, or business not permitted under other laws reports to the Minister of Economy and Finance instead.

3. 03

   3. Bring in operating funds — When a branch brings in operating funds from its head office, it does so through the designated foreign exchange bank. A branch or office located in Korea is treated as a resident under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, and the designated transaction bank also handles follow-up management after the report.

4. 04

   4. Branch registration and tax office report — A branch registers its purpose, trade name, Korean representative and other matters at the location of its business office within 3 weeks of establishment, and it cannot transact business on a continuing basis before registration. A branch files a domestic place of business report with the tax office within 2 months of having a domestic place of business, and a liaison office, which does not receive a business registration number, receives a unique tax identification number.

5. 05

   5. Changes, closure and remittance of net profit — If the reported details change, submit a report on changes to the domestic branch of a foreign company to the body that accepted the establishment report. To send a branch's year-end net profit to the head office, apply for remittance to the designated foreign exchange bank with the balance sheet, income statement and tax payment certificate, and submit a closure report when closing the branch.

Filing route

Filing route

Deadlines & processing notes

Deadlines & processing notes

Fees & official charges

Fees & official charges

Included in the basic fee — Initial document review, required-document guidance, basic form preparation, one filing support and one ordinary supplement.

Conditional success fee — For this service, any conditional success fee may be separately agreed within the lawful service scope and stated in a written engagement agreement. No outcome is guaranteed.

Displayed amounts are starting estimates, not statutory or standard rates. The final fee is confirmed after consultation and document review in the engagement agreement. Government fees and actual expenses may change.

Basic documents

Basic documents

Carrying out a capital transaction without a report or with a false report is subject to an administrative fine of up to 100,000,000 won under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act. A branch cannot transact business on a continuing basis before completing registration of its business office, and anyone who transacts before registration is jointly liable with the company.