Register a company in South Korea, the parallel market.

Yes - the FIPA notification, incorporation and tax registrations run by power of attorney with apostilled documents. Banks prefer meeting the representative director, and the D-8 visa involves arrival by definition. We sequence the trip around the bank and immigration, not the registry.

Turnkey registration starts from $3,900; with banking from $6,400. The KRW 100 million (≈$70,000) is your investment capital deployed into the company, not a fee. Renewals with accounting run from $2,200 a year - bilingual bookkeeping included, because in Korea it has to be.

For FDI status - yes: FIPA registration requires at least KRW 100 million per foreign investor, and that status is what carries the D-8 investor visa, the FDI company certificate and clean repatriation rails. A company below the threshold can exist but loses those protections, which for a foreign founder is usually a false economy. We treat the ticket as the plan's foundation.

Progressive corporate tax - 9% on the first KRW 200 million of profit, 19% to 20 billion, 21-24% above - plus a local surcharge of 10% of the tax, so effective rates run 9.9% to 26.4%. VAT is 10% with export zero-rating. Dividends out carry 22% before treaties cut it to 5-15%. Early-stage subsidiaries sit mostly in the 9.9% bracket - gentler than Korea's reputation.

Not closed - parallel. Ownership is open and FDI is courted; what is demanding is the market itself: Korean-language everything, its own platforms (Naver, Kakao, Coupang), conglomerate purchasing relationships built over years, and consumers who reward localisation and ignore its absence. Companies that translate their product, hire Korean-speaking leadership and commit visibly do well. Those that arrive with English brochures do not. We tell you which investment your model requires before you commit.

Rigid enough to plan around: dismissal requires just cause that courts actually test, statutory severance accrues at one month's pay per year served, and working-time rules are enforced. This is not a defect - it is the deal that buys Korea's famously committed workforce. We structure contracts, probation and fixed terms lawfully from the first hire, and provision severance on the balance sheet where it belongs.

Korea's product-certification regime - electrical goods, children's products, telecom equipment and much else need KC marks before sale, with testing at accredited labs. Timelines run weeks to months by category. For physical-product businesses we scope KC before incorporation, because the certificate, not the company, is usually the critical path.

Orderly and documented: accounts open in one to three weeks for FDI-registered companies, the won is convertible, and dividends repatriate through the FDI rails - but every cross-border flow is reported, and banks expect paperwork that matches contracts. It is thoroughness, not obstruction. FDI status plus clean books equals boring, reliable transfers, which is the goal.

In short: the classic FDI tax holidays largely ended in 2019 - anyone selling them today is out of date. What remains real: cash grants for advanced-technology and materials investments, foreign-investment zones with site support, and the generous early tax brackets everyone gets. We model with today's incentives, not 2015's brochure.

Two to four weeks to a registered, tax-registered company - FIPA notification, capital remittance, court registry, certificates. Banking adds one to three weeks; the D-8 visa three to six. A working, banked, visa-backed Korean operation inside two months is the realistic, repeatable default.