Introduction

It is still a mystery to a number of people in the west especially when it comes to starting a business in South Korea. As the eleventh biggest economy in the world 18 moa South Korea offers numerous business opportunities. This article will cover various procedure and paperwork that is required to start a business in South Korea.

Checking out Trade Name

Any entrepreneur willing to start business in South Korea first has to take a trade name certificate. This certificate process only takes a day and availability can be checked with the Supreme Court website. There is absolutely no charge for checking the availability of the company name, only condition is that no other organization is running the same business in same city or South Korean term 'Kun'.

Making the Seals

The next in line is getting the seals and other paperwork done for the company. In case of an entrepreneur they can use their personal seal. It is similar to sole proprietary firm in United Kingdom and United States.

Incorporation of the company

Next step in starting a business is to incorporate the company by registering it with the registrar of the company department. The notarization process often takes a day and company has to show the total capital more than 10 million Korean wan.

Next is Opening the Bank Account

The promoters starting a business in South Korea next need to open the bank account and deposit complete subscription amount in lieu of the share they are subscribing in the company.

Paying the Corporate Registration Tax

The corporate registration tax varies in different areas of South Korea. The basic components of corporate registration tax are - capital registration tax, education tax, railroad bond tax and registration tax of Supreme Court Stamp.

Registration with District Tax Office

To start the business operation an entrepreneur has to register their business with local tax office and get a commencement of business certificate. This process often takes 20 days and each business will be issued a tax identification number and VAT number.

Filing Public Health Insurance Program

Companies with more than one employee need to register themselves with National Insurance Program.

Finally the company has to submit the rules of employment to the office of Ministry of Labor in South Korea. This process only takes a day and company has to submit the proof of accident insurance in case they are hiring more than 10 employees.