Expanding into
South Korea
Expanding to countries such as South Korea – which is characterized by a highly-skilled and innovative workforce, flexible employment and tax laws, a world-renowned infrastructure network, and leading sectors in agriculture, manufacturing, ICT, energy, pharmaceuticals, and tourism – can bring both excitement to the possibilities, but also significant stress to ensuring the entity with the country’s rigorous legal structures and laws.


Get the Support You Need
Global Expansion is a step to make for any business, regardless of your goal. But the opportunities that can come with an expansion can be stimulating as well as intimidating and confusing, especially when you consider all of the registration procedures that need to be done and the documentation required.
Going at it without the proper support can increase the costs, time and risks involved.
The legwork and potential red tape can be worked through more efficiently and cost-effectively with the support of a Professional Employer Organisation (PEO) such as Bradford Jacobs, primarily through our Employer of Record (EOR) framework.
It can be best utilised when businesses are just beginning their expansion process and require more information before incorporating an entity and fully establishing themselves in that market.
Hiring Staff
in South Korea
The economy of South Korea is a highly developed mixed economy. By nominal GDP, it has the 4th largest economy in Asia and the 10th largest in the world.
South Korea is notable for its emergence of economic development from an underdeveloped nation to a developed, high-income country in a few generations. This economic growth has been described as the Miracle on the Han River, which has allowed it to join OECD and the G-20.
South Korea still remains one of the fastest growing developed countries in the world, following the Great Recession. It is included in the group of Next Eleven countries as having the potential to play a dominant role in the global economy by the middle of the 21st century.
South Korea’s education system and the establishment of a motivated and educated populace is largely responsible for spurring the country’s high technology boom and economic development.
South Korea began to adapt an export-oriented economic strategy to fuel its economy. In 2019, South Korea was the eighth largest exporter and eighth largest importer in the world. The Bank of Korea and the Korea Development Institute periodically release major economic indicators and economic trends of the economy of South Korea.
Renowned financial organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund, notes the resilience of the South Korean economy against various economic crises. They cite the country’s economic advantages as reasons for this resilience, including low state debt, and high fiscal reserves that can quickly be mobilized to address any expected financial emergencies.
Other financial organizations, like the World Bank, describe Korea as one of the fastest-growing major economies of the next generation, along with BRIC and Indonesia. South Korea was one of the few developed countries that was able to avoid a recession during the Great Recession. Its economic growth rate reached 6.2% in 2010, a recovery from economic growth rates of 2.3% in 2008 and 0.2% in 2009, during the Great Recession. The South Korean economy again recovered with the record-surplus of US$70.7 billion mark of the current account in the end of 2013, up 47 percent growth from 2012.
In Korea, there are about 3.5 million small and medium-sized enterprises, which make up about 99.9 percent of the total number of Korean firms. As for the number of employees, Korean SMEs employ approximately 14 million, constituting nearly 88% of the workforce.
As for the contribution to the Korean economy, Korean SMEs account for less than 50% while Korea’s large companies make up more than 50% in terms of both production and added value.
Wholesalers and retailers stand at around 1.66 million, the largest among all industries, followed by SMEs in the property business with 1.17 million and those in the hospitality sector with 815,000.
Manufacturing SMEs hire the largest number of workers with 3.39 million, trailed by wholesalers and retailers with 3.29 million, and those in the hospitality industry with 1.83 million. Slightly over 51 percent of all SMEs, or 3.53 million, are located in the capital area, which includes Gyeonggi Province and the western port of Incheon.
Business Registration Number
VAT Number
Hiring Staff
in South Korea
South Korea is notable for its emergence of economic development from an underdeveloped nation to a developed, high-income country in a few generations. This economic growth has been described as the Miracle on the Han River, which has allowed it to join OECD and the G-20.
South Korea still remains one of the fastest growing developed countries in the world, following the Great Recession. It is included in the group of Next Eleven countries as having the potential to play a dominant role in the global economy by the middle of the 21st century.
South Korea’s education system and the establishment of a motivated and educated populace is largely responsible for spurring the country’s high technology boom and economic development.
South Korea began to adapt an export-oriented economic strategy to fuel its economy. In 2019, South Korea was the eighth largest exporter and eighth largest importer in the world. The Bank of Korea and the Korea Development Institute periodically release major economic indicators and economic trends of the economy of South Korea.
Renowned financial organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund, notes the resilience of the South Korean economy against various economic crises. They cite the country’s economic advantages as reasons for this resilience, including low state debt, and high fiscal reserves that can quickly be mobilized to address any expected financial emergencies.
Other financial organizations, like the World Bank, describe Korea as one of the fastest-growing major economies of the next generation, along with BRIC and Indonesia. South Korea was one of the few developed countries that was able to avoid a recession during the Great Recession. Its economic growth rate reached 6.2% in 2010, a recovery from economic growth rates of 2.3% in 2008 and 0.2% in 2009, during the Great Recession. The South Korean economy again recovered with the record-surplus of US$70.7 billion mark of the current account in the end of 2013, up 47 percent growth from 2012.
As for the contribution to the Korean economy, Korean SMEs account for less than 50% while Korea’s large companies make up more than 50% in terms of both production and added value.
Wholesalers and retailers stand at around 1.66 million, the largest among all industries, followed by SMEs in the property business with 1.17 million and those in the hospitality sector with 815,000.
Manufacturing SMEs hire the largest number of workers with 3.39 million, trailed by wholesalers and retailers with 3.29 million, and those in the hospitality industry with 1.83 million. Slightly over 51 percent of all SMEs, or 3.53 million, are located in the capital area, which includes Gyeonggi Province and the western port of Incheon.
Business Registration Number
VAT Number
China, United States, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Japan, and Germany
The Main Sectors of the South Korean Economy
The country focuses on the following key sectors, which all have a significant impact on the country’s economy:
The Main Sectors of the South Korean Economy
The country focuses on the following key sectors, which all have a significant impact on the country’s economy:

Commercial Laws in
South Korea
Commercial Laws in
South Korea
