TL;DR. South Korea’s official corporate registry is operated by the Supreme Court of Korea through the Internet Registry Office (Iros). Official certified extracts cost KRW 700-1,000 (around USD 0.51-0.73) per document and are available in Korean only. Foreign buyers can create an Iros account without a Korean identity number, but the Korean-only interface is a practical barrier. For listed companies, the FSS DART portal provides free English-accessible disclosure filings.
What is the official South Korea business registry?
South Korea’s corporate registry is administered by the Supreme Court of Korea under the Commercial Act (Sangbeop) and the Act on Registration of Commercial Business. Unlike most jurisdictions where a ministry of commerce or a dedicated corporate authority runs the registry, Korea’s company registration function sits within the court system. Physical registry offices (Deunggi-so) are attached to district courts across the country.
The public online portal is the Internet Registry Office (Iros), at iros.go.kr. Through Iros, any user can apply for a certified copy (Deunggi-bu Deunghonbon) or a summary certificate (Deunggi-bu Chobon) of a company’s registration record. These documents cover registered name, address, business purpose, capital, directors, representative directors, and any court-related encumbrances.
For listed companies, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) operates DART (Data Analysis, Retrieval and Transfer System), Korea’s electronic disclosure platform at dart.fss.or.kr. DART holds annual reports, quarterly filings, shareholder disclosures, and governance documents for companies listed on KOSPI, KOSDAQ, and KONEX.
Every Korean legal entity is assigned a Corporate Registration Number (Bubindeunggi-beonho, 법인등기번호) at incorporation. This is distinct from the Business Registration Number (Saeopja-deungrok-beonho) issued by the National Tax Service, which is used for tax purposes. Both numbers are relevant to compliance searches: the Corporate Registration Number links to the Iros filing record; the Business Registration Number appears on invoices, contracts, and the Public Data Portal at data.go.kr.
What can you search?
Iros (paid, certified extracts):
- Search by company name (Korean only) or Corporate Registration Number
- Partial name match is supported for Korean-character searches
- Returns Deunggi-bu Deunghonbon (full certified extract) covering: registered trade name, head office address, business purpose clauses, total share capital, issued shares, par value, directors, representative directors, auditors, date of incorporation, and any court orders or encumbrances
- Certified extracts carry the electronic seal of the registry court and are legally valid for submission to Korean banks, counterparties, and courts
DART (free, listed companies):
- Search by company name, securities code, or DART company ID
- Full text search across filed documents
- Available filings: annual reports (Saeopbogoseo), semi-annual and quarterly reports, major event disclosures (Jungyo-suhang), large shareholder notifications, executive shareholding reports, and proxy statements
- Some large-cap listed companies file English summaries of annual reports, though this is voluntary
National Tax Service (NTS) Hometax (free, basic verification):
- Business Registration Number lookup at hometax.go.kr
- Returns trading name, business address, entity type, and active/suspended/closed status
- No account required for basic Business Registration Number verification
- Useful for quick counterparty status checks, not for compliance-grade documentation
How much does it cost?
| Document | Cost (KRW) | Cost (USD, approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Business Registration Number lookup (NTS) | 0 | Free |
| DART filings (all) | 0 | Free |
| Iros summary certificate (Chobon) | 700 | ~USD 0.51 |
| Iros full certified extract (Deunghonbon) | 1,000 | ~USD 0.73 |
All prices are based on the Supreme Court Iros published schedule as of May 2026. KRW/USD conversion used: 1,370 (approximate; verify at point of purchase). Payment on Iros is via credit card or internet banking.
The cost per document from Iros is among the lowest of any jurisdiction covered on this site. The practical cost for foreign buyers tends to be dominated by the translation requirement rather than the registry fee itself.
Do you need a local account or ID?
For the NTS Hometax Business Registration Number lookup, no account is required for basic status checks.
For Iros, a registered account is required to apply for certified extracts. Account creation requires an email address and a foreign credit card. The form does not require a Korean Resident Registration Number (RRN), though some payment flows may prompt for it. Foreign buyers should use the “foreigner” account creation path (외국인 or 개인 without RRN). The entire account creation interface is in Korean.
For DART, no account is required for document viewing and download.
Is the website in English?
No. All three systems are primarily in Korean. DART has an English interface at dart.fss.or.kr/eng, which provides search and document access, though the filed documents themselves are in Korean unless the company has filed an English version. Iros has no English interface. The NTS Hometax has no English company search interface for the Business Registration Number lookup tool.
Foreign buyers without Korean language proficiency will find direct registry access genuinely difficult. Machine translation of extracted documents is possible but introduces errors in legal terms that matter for compliance (entity type, director role, purpose clause wording).
What’s the turnaround time?
Iros extracts are available for immediate download after payment. There is no manual fulfilment step. The extract carries the timestamp of the Iros server at time of issue, which is the legally valid date of the document.
DART filings are available the same day they are submitted. Historical filings back to approximately 1999 are accessible.
NTS Business Registration Number status checks are real-time.
Is there an API?
Yes, for DART. The FSS provides the OpenDART API at opendart.fss.or.kr, which delivers structured access to all DART filings including company metadata, financial statements, shareholder disclosures, and board composition data. Registration is required for an API key; the service is free for non-commercial and research use. Rate limits apply to the free tier.
Iros does not offer a public API for certified registry extracts. The Korea Public Data Portal (data.go.kr) provides an API for some business registration data from the NTS, covering Business Registration Numbers, entity type, and status.
For compliance platforms building Korean counterparty verification, the OpenDART API handles listed company data well; private company verification requires either direct Iros access or a local data supplier.
What you legally cannot do
The Supreme Court’s Terms of Use for Iros prohibit:
- Automated bulk downloading of certified extracts
- Commercial redistribution of certified extracts without authorization
- Using certified extracts for purposes other than those stated at the point of application
DART filings are public disclosures. The FSS permits use for research, investment analysis, and compliance, provided filings are not misrepresented as independently verified documents or repurposed to mislead users.
The NTS Business Registration Number lookup is public. There are no stated restrictions on its use for compliance verification purposes, though bulk scraping is not encouraged.
Under Korea’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA, 개인정보보호법), director names and addresses disclosed in registry documents may carry restrictions on secondary commercial use. Buyers building databases of Korean corporate officer data should obtain legal advice on PIPA applicability to their specific use case.
Practical tips for foreign users
- Use Corporate Registration Number when you have it. The Corporate Registration Number (법인등기번호, 12 digits) is the stable Iros identifier. The Business Registration Number (사업자등록번호, 10 digits, format 000-00-00000, issued by the National Tax Service) is more commonly visible on invoices and contracts, but it does not directly link to the Iros record. Confirm both numbers when starting a file.
- Entity type vocabulary. A Jusik-hoesa (JH, 주식회사) is the standard joint-stock company (equivalent to Korea’s form of a public or private company limited by shares). A Yuhan-hoesa (YH, 유한회사) is a limited liability company. A Yuhan-chaegim-hoesa (YCH, 유한책임회사) is a newer form introduced in 2011, closer to an LLC. Compliance requirements, particularly around financial statement disclosure, differ between these types.
- Representative Director is the binding title. Korean Jusik-hoesa can have multiple directors, but the Daepyo-isa (Representative Director) is the individual legally authorized to represent and bind the company. Verify this in the Deunghonbon.
- Paid-in capital vs. authorized capital. The Deunghonbon shows both. Paid-in capital reflects actual equity paid; authorized capital is the ceiling for share issuance. A wide gap between the two is worth noting in a due diligence file.
- DART for listed companies is the fastest English-accessible path. Even where documents are Korean, the OpenDART API returns structured metadata in JSON that includes company name, stock code, and filing type in a machine-readable form that reduces translation burden.
- FATF membership. South Korea is a FATF member country and is not on the FATF grey list as of May 2026. Korea passed its most recent mutual evaluation in 2020. See FATF (fatf-gafi.org) for current status.
- Chaebols and subsidiary trees. Korea’s large conglomerate structures (chaebols such as Samsung, Hyundai, LG, SK) involve dozens to hundreds of registered subsidiaries. When verifying a Korean counterparty, confirm whether it is a direct chaebol subsidiary or an independently controlled entity. The DART large-shareholder disclosure filings are the most accessible source for this.
Alternatives if you cannot access the registry directly
The Korean-only interfaces and multi-system architecture make direct access to Korea’s registries difficult for non-Korean-speaking buyers.
- OpenDART API for listed company data: free, well-documented, and accessible without Korean-language ability (see opendart.fss.or.kr).
- Local data suppliers (see section below): NICE and KED both produce structured company reports that include registry data, credit scoring, and payment behavior.
Local data suppliers
If you need a packaged report rather than a raw Iros extract, South Korea has a small set of established providers:
- NICE Information Service (nice.co.kr). Part of NICE Holdings, Korea’s dominant financial infrastructure group with 100% market share in credit ratings among domestic financial institutions since 1986. Provides commercial credit reports, company profiles, and financial risk scoring for Korean entities. Used by Korean banks as the standard counterparty credit reference.
- NICE BizLine (nicebizline.com). NICE’s dedicated business information platform, previously operated as Korea Information Service (KIS) at kisline.com, which now redirects to nicebizline.com. Provides company credit reports, director background checks, and corporate history searches targeting compliance and trade credit use cases.
- Korea Enterprise Data (KED) (kedkorea.com). A specialist Korean business data provider offering company profiles, financial statements, and credit risk reports. Note: the kedkorea.com domain had a TLS certificate issue at the time of verification (May 2026); if accessing, verify the current certificate status. The company itself is an established Korean data provider in the B2B compliance space.
Use Iros for the official certified filing extract. Use NICE or KED when you need payment behavior, credit risk indicators, or financial statement data layered on top of the registry record.
FAQ
Can a foreign company access South Korea’s Iros registry without a Korean identity number?
Yes, with some difficulty. Iros has a foreigner account registration path that does not require a Korean Resident Registration Number (RRN). A foreign credit card and email address are sufficient. The barrier is practical: the account creation interface and all system navigation are in Korean only.
What is the difference between the Corporate Registration Number and the Business Registration Number?
The Corporate Registration Number (법인등기번호, 12 digits) is issued by the Supreme Court registry when a company is incorporated. It links to the Iros certified extract. The Business Registration Number (사업자등록번호, 10 digits, format 000-00-00000) is issued by the National Tax Service and appears on tax invoices and contracts. Both numbers identify the same entity but link to different databases. For compliance-grade verification, you need the Iros extract (accessed via Corporate Registration Number), not just the NTS status check.
Where do I find a Korean company’s directors and shareholders?
Director information, including the Representative Director, is in the Iros Deunghonbon. Shareholder information for listed companies is in DART large-shareholder disclosures and annual reports. Shareholder information for private (non-listed) Korean companies is not publicly filed in a searchable format; it is held by the company’s shareholder registry agent and is not available through Iros or DART.
Is South Korea on the FATF grey list?
No. South Korea is a FATF member country and is not grey-listed as of May 2026. Korea passed its mutual evaluation review in 2020. For current status, check fatf-gafi.org.
How current is DART data for listed companies?
DART filings are submitted by companies on a disclosure-event basis and are available the same day. Annual reports must be filed within 90 days of year-end; quarterly reports within 45 days of the quarter end. The data is as current as the company’s most recent filing obligation.
Does South Korea have a beneficial ownership (UBO) register?
Korea introduced beneficial ownership disclosure requirements for listed companies through DART and for financial institutions through the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information. There is no single publicly searchable UBO register for private companies equivalent to the EU’s beneficial ownership registers. UBO identification for Korean private companies requires a combination of the Iros extract, shareholder register inquiry, and where applicable, DART large-shareholder disclosures for any listed entity in the ownership chain.
What should I check when verifying a Korean chaebol subsidiary?
Confirm the entity’s exact registered name and Corporate Registration Number in Iros. Check DART for the ultimate listed parent’s latest annual report, which will include a list of consolidated subsidiaries. Verify the Representative Director of the specific entity you are contracting with, since different subsidiaries have distinct legal personalities and the parent’s credit standing does not automatically transfer. Large-shareholder DART filings for the parent company will indicate ownership concentration and cross-shareholding patterns.
Last verified: May 2026. Sources: Supreme Court Internet Registry Office (iros.go.kr), Financial Supervisory Service DART (dart.fss.or.kr), OpenDART API (opendart.fss.or.kr), National Tax Service Hometax (hometax.go.kr), FATF (fatf-gafi.org).