In Korea, a foreigner may engage in various business activities without restraint or limits, except as otherwise prescribed by the Korean law.
1. Restricted cases in investment
The foreign investors can not put money into an investment if:
– The investment is deemed to threaten national security and public order.
– The investment is deemed to have negative effects on public health and sanitation, environmental preservation or acts against Korean morals and customs
– The investment violates any act or statute of Korea.
2. Business lines that exclude foreign investment
In Korea, the foreigners can not invest in the following business lines:
– Postal service, central banking, individual mutual aid, pension fund, financial market administration, and other activities auxiliary to financial service activities
– Legislative, judiciary, and administrative bodies, foreign official residences in Korea, and other international and foreign bodies
– Educational institutions: kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools, universities, graduate schools, special-education schools,…
– Artists, religious groups, industry, professionals, environmental movement groups, political or labor movement groups,…
3. Business lines that ban and restrict foreign investment
There are three fields that the foreigner are not allowed to put in, including:
– Nuclear power generation
– Radio broadcasting
– Terrestrial broadcasting
Additionally, in some certain fields, when spending money, they have to meet the requirements such as:
– The areas permitted where the foreign investment rate is less than 50%: Livestock farming, meat wholesale, transmission, distribution, and trade of electrical power, coastal water/air passenger and cargo transport, publication of newspapers, magazines, and periodicals.
– The areas permitted where the foreign investment rate is 49% or less: Program distribution, cable networks, satellite or other forms of broadcasting, wired, wireless, and satellite telecommunications, and other electronic communications.
– The areas permitted where the foreign investment rate is not more than 30% of the total domestic power plant facilities: Hydroelectric, firepower, solar, and other power generation.
– The areas permitted where the foreign investment rate is less than 25%: News agencies.
– Other categories that are permitted with exceptions: Growing of cereal crops and other food crops, manufacturing of other basic inorganic chemicals, smelting, refining, or manufacturing of alloys with non-ferrous metals, collection, transport, and disposal of radioactive waste, domestic banking except the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation and the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives.
In general, except the business lines which are banned and excluded, the foreigner can invest in the other lines and meet all specific conditions if it is the restricted fields.
