Home / Korea office
Most foreign companies register a branch and put one person in it. That person becomes a single point of failure, and half their week disappears into paperwork. We take the role instead — a team, an office that already exists, and cover when someone is away.
Scope is agreed in writing at the start. You can take the whole set or only the parts you are missing.
| Area | What we do |
|---|---|
| Entity setup | Advice on whether you need a branch, a liaison office or no entity at all, then registration and the filings that follow. Many companies do not need an entity in their first year, and we say so when that is the case. |
| Local representative | A named Korean contact for your customers, suppliers and authorities. A local address, a local phone number, and someone who answers in Korean in Korean business hours. |
| Staff recruitment | Where you want a person dedicated to your account, we write the role, source candidates, interview and hire. You approve the shortlist and the final choice. |
| Day-to-day operation | Correspondence, documents, quotations, order follow-up and reporting back to your head office in English. |
| Korea marketing | Where you want to build a presence rather than only supply, we plan and run marketing in Korea on your behalf, including brand and product video produced in-house rather than outsourced. |
| Meetings & visits | Attending customer meetings, supplier audits and trade fairs on your behalf, with professional interpreting rather than translation software. |
| Handover | When your volume justifies your own entity and staff, we set it up and hand over cleanly. This is the intended end state, not a failure of the arrangement. |
Company registration, employment and tax rules in Korea change, and the right structure depends on what you actually do here. We confirm the current requirements with a Korean licensed professional before you commit to anything.
Is this for you
We would rather say no early than take on work that will not go anywhere. If you are unsure, ask and we will tell you.
Which one fits depends on how much work you have and whether you want a Korean legal entity of your own.
No entity of your own. We act for you under our own registration, using our office and our people. The fastest and lightest way to have a real presence in Korea.
We register your branch or liaison office in Korea, recruit the person who will work on your account, and run the operation day to day. The entity is yours; the running of it is ours.
We normally recommend starting with representation and moving to your own entity once the volume is proven. Entities are easy to open and slow to close.
When you need someone dedicated to your account, we do the part that is hardest from abroad: writing a role that makes sense in the Korean market, reading Korean CVs, and interviewing in Korean.
You approve the shortlist and make the final choice. You are hiring for your business, so the decision stays yours.
How that person is employed matters. Depending on the arrangement they may be employed by your Korean entity or engaged through ours, and Korean labour law treats those very differently. We set this out in writing before recruitment starts, and confirm it with a Korean licensed professional. We do not leave it vague.
Scope varies too much for a price list. The structure does not, so we publish that instead.
1. Setup fee — one-off, where entity registration or recruitment is involved. Fixed before work starts.
2. Monthly retainer — for ongoing representation and operation. Set against an agreed scope, so both sides know what is included and what is extra.
3. Pass-through costs — government fees, notarisation, staff salary and statutory contributions, travel. Settled against actual receipts, with no margin added by us.
You receive the scope and the numbers in writing before anything begins. We do not add line items mid-engagement.
Often not, at least at first. Many products can be imported and sold through a Korean distributor or importer without you registering anything. We look at this before recommending an entity, because an entity you do not need is a recurring cost with no revenue attached.
Yes, that is the core of the representation arrangement. A Korean phone number, a Korean address and someone who answers in Korean during Korean hours.
It depends on the structure we agree. They may be employed by your Korean entity or engaged through ours, and Korean labour law treats these differently. We put the structure in writing before recruitment starts and confirm it with a Korean licensed professional.
That is the intended path. We set up your entity, transfer the relationships and documents, and hand over. We would rather do a clean handover than hold a client who has outgrown the arrangement.
Not on representation. If we act as your presence in Korea, we do not act for a direct competitor in the same category at the same time. This is written into the agreement.
Yes, and most clients do. Representation and sourcing are quoted separately so you can see what each costs, but they run as one engagement.
Tell us what you are trying to do in Korea. The more specific this is, the faster we can tell you whether it is worth your time. We reply to every message.
Prefer email? Write to us directly and attach your brand deck, specification or reference product.
Optional. The more you give us, the more specific our first reply can be.
No fee to enquire. If we cannot help, we will say so and, where we can, point you elsewhere.