Guide to Company Registration and Naming in South Korea

Registering a company in South Korea is not as simple as ordering takeout-yet it’s also far from requiring a line-by-line reading of the entire legal code to get started. In practice, most applicants stall at three key points choosing an appropriate company name, determining where to submit documents, and clarifying whether personal attendance is mandatory. Starting in Q2 2025, the Korean Ministry of Justice implemented several critical upgrades to the commercial registration system-for example, electronic signatures now hold full legal validity across the entire company establishment process, and foreign shareholders now have two additional officially recognized platforms for online submission of identity verification (compared to last year). These changes have prompted many business owners who previously planned to delegate the entire process to local agents to instead attempt the initial steps themselves.

I. Compliance Requirements for Company Names

A Korean company name cannot be formed arbitrarily using Chinese characters or Hangul. It must satisfy three mandatory conditions

1. The name must explicitly include the legally prescribed organizational form designation-for instance, “Jusikhoesa” (Stock Company) or “Yuhanhoesa” (Limited Liability Company). Omission or substitution with English abbreviations (e.g., “Inc.” or “LLC”) is strictly prohibited.

2. It must not duplicate any already-registered corporate name. Merely adding prefixes such as “Shin” (New) or “Daehan” (Great Korea) to circumvent the name uniqueness check is invalid.

3. Terms likely to mislead the public are prohibited-for example, regulated financial terms like “Eunhaeng” (Bank) or “Jeunggwon” (Securities)-unless the applicant has obtained the corresponding regulatory license.

II. Registration Procedure and Key Milestones

After completing the preliminary name review, formal registration proceeds in four steps

1. Schedule an appointment online via the Ministry of Justice’s “Enterprise Information System” (EIS), selecting the nearest District Court Registry Office.

2. Prepare three core documents

The original Articles of Incorporation (signed by all incorporators and notarized);

A Capital Contribution Confirmation Letter (specifying contribution method and actual receipt date);

Identity documentation for the Representative Director (for foreign nationals a certified copy of the passport plus proof of residential address).

3. Submit the documents either in person at the designated District Court Registry Office-or fully online, provided the legal representative has registered and bound their account to Korea’s official i-PIN (Internet Personal Identification Number) authentication system.

4. Upon successful registration, the system automatically generates a Unified Business Registration Number (UIN). This number is simultaneously transmitted to the National Tax Service and the Ministry of Employment and Labor; no separate application is required.

III. Special Notes for Foreign Participation

Effective May 2025, the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy revised the Enforcement Rules of the Foreign Investment Promotion Act. For non-sensitive-sector enterprises with foreign equity ownership below 50%, the prior notification requirement has been abolished and replaced with a post-establishment filing system. However, the following two points remain essential

1. When a foreign natural person serves as a shareholder, their passport information must be authenticated by a notary public or other competent authority in their home country, accompanied by a Korean-language translation (the translation itself does not require notarization).

2. If shares are held on behalf of the foreign investor by an overseas lawyer or trust entity, an additional Beneficial Owner Declaration must be submitted-formatted strictly in accordance with the latest template issued by the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KOFIA).

IV. Common Oversights and Practical Recommendations

Frequent errors in practice stem from seemingly minor details

1. Stating the Representative Director’s term of office as “indefinite” in the Articles of Incorporation violates the Korean Commercial Act, which caps the maximum term at three years. The exact duration must be clearly specified.

2. Where capital contributions include intangible assets, a third-party valuation report is mandatory-and the valuation firm must appear on the official list of institutions registered with the Korea Fair Trade Commission.

3. District Court Registry Offices do not accept PDF scans as originals. All paper documents must be color-scanned copies of physically signed originals, with each page bearing the applicant’s registered personal seal (“Ingam”).

The above outlines the core procedural stages and practical essentials involved in naming and registering a company in South Korea today. We hope this information proves helpful. If you are preparing your documentation, we recommend conducting a preliminary name search one week in advance via the Enterprise Information System to avoid peak filing periods. For first-time registrants without Korean language proficiency, engaging a court-certified Beopmusa (Judicial Scrivener) to assist with document preparation is advisable. Fees are transparent and typically range from KRW 300,000 to KRW 600,000.