South korea Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in south korea, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Licensing Requirements for Professional Services
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Under the KORUS FTA, Korea became fully opened to U.S. law firms as of March 2017, allowing them to set up joint ventures with Korean counterparts, hire Korean lawyers and partially practice domestic law. The plan also allows foreign lawyers to temporarily stay in Korea to handle cases requiring international mediation. U.S. lawyers can practice in Korea as a “Foreign Legal Consultant” (FLC) under the Korean Foreign Legal Consultants Act of the KORUS FTA. An attorney from a country with a free trade agreement in place with South Korea is eligible to apply to be an FLC. They must have at least a three-year work experience in their respective jurisdiction. In order to hold chief status, they must have seven years of experience overall. Foreign attorneys must seek approval by the Minister of Justice and register with the Korean Bar Association.

U.S. accounting firms must register with the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in order to open an office in Korea. These U.S. firms are then allowed to hire foreign accountants and provide accounting consultations to Korean companies on overseas financial operations only.  They are not allowed to hire Korean accountants. As of March 2017, foreign accounting firms are eligible to purchase less than a 50 percent stake in a Korean accounting firm. The FSC will approve U.S. accountants who have secured accounting licenses overseas to do business in Korea for five years.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) refers to an investment of not less than KRW 100 million made by foreigners. To be recognized as such, at least 10 percent of the voting stocks issued by a domestic corporation or business should be foreign owned, or at least 10 percent of the total investment amount should be made by foreign investors. Alternatively, foreigners may acquire less than 10 percent of stocks issued by a domestic corporation or business or invest less than 10 percent of the total investment amount but should dispatch or appoint an executive member who holds authority to participate in the major decision-making and management processes of the corporation or company. To learn more about how one can open offices in Korea, please visit  https://www.investkorea.org/ik-en/cntnts/i-333/web.do.

 

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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