Invest KOREA (IK), Korea's national investment promotion agency, was established as part of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) to promote foreign direct investment(FDI) to Korea. It provides comprehensive services for all investment stages of Korea, including investment feasibility study, investment execution(establishment of foreign invested company, investment declaration, legal consultation, etc.), and grievance resolution.
Since 2018, it has been supporting all FDI-related matters in Korea through adding supporting outbound FDI of domestic companies and to Korean companies' reshoring to Korea on its function.
History
In August 1995, a function to promote FDI(Foreign Direct Investment) to Korea was added to KOTRA following the revision of the related law, and the name of KOTRA was changed from Korea Trade Promotion Agency to Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.
In July 1998, Invest KOREA's predecessor, the Korea Investment Service Center (KISC) was established in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis as part of the liberalization of the Korean investment regime.
In October 1999, the Foreign Investment Ombudsman Office in KOTRA was established to strengthen the function of foreign invested companies' grievance resolution.
In December 2003, the Foreign Investment Center was re-launched as Invest KOREA.
In May 2018, the function of supporting overseas investment (Outbound FDI) of Korean companies was added to Invest KOREA.
In February 2019, the function of supporting the reshoring of Korean companies operating overseas was added to Invest KOREA.
Functions
Invest KOREA provides comprehensive services for all investment stages of Korea, including investment feasibility study, investment execution(establishment of foreign invested company, investment declaration, legal consultation, etc.), and grievance resolution.
Pre-Investment Stage
Preliminary information study: Search and provide information required for investment feasibility study Find potential investors and arrange consultations Consultations on specific sectors: Incentives, legal affairs, accounting, taxation industrial sites, etc.
Investment Execution Stage
Investment notification: Receive notification of foreign investment (issuance of certificate of foreign investment) Arrival of investment: Issuance of registration certificate of foreign-invested company Search for factory site: Look for optimal factory site for investors and provide relevant administrative services Corporate establishment: Support for corporate registration and licensing and approvals Visa issuance: D-8, F-3, etc.
Post-Investment Stage
Foreign Investment Ombudsman: "Home doctors" resolve the grievances of foreign-invested companies Visa extension: Handle works related to alien registration and extension of stay Support life in Korea: Search for houses, foreign schools and surrounding living facilities to help employees of foreign-invested companies and their families get settled in Korea Other than the inbound FDI promotion to Korea, Invest KOREA support outbound FDI of Korean companies and reshoring of Korean companies operating overseas through cooperation with overseas offices of KOTRA.
Commissioners
(1st) Alan Timblick : 2003.12.5. ~ 2005.12.4. (2nd) Tong-Soo Chung : 2006.2.16. ~ 2010.3.15. (3rd) Hongchul Ahn : 2010.3.16. ~ 2012.3.15. (4th) Ki Won Han : 2012.4.1. ~ 2015.12.31. (5th) Yong-kook Kim : 2016.2.11. ~ 2018.8.31. (6th) Shawn Chang : 2018.9.1. ~ 2023.1.18. (Present) Tae Hyung Kim : 2023.1.19. ~
Structure
Based within the KOTRA headquarters in Seoul, the commissioner of Invest KOREA is supported by staff members who are KOTRA employees, recruited specialists in investment-related fields, and civil servants dispatched from other agencies and ministries, including the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy under whose umbrella Invest KOREA falls. Invest KOREA works in collaboration with its network of 36 overseas branch offices of KOTRA, which are located in financial and industrial hubs around the world. Invest KOREA implements government policies on foreign investment that have been formulated by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and coordinated by the Foreign Investment Committee.
Invest KOREA consist of three main departments: the Investment Planning Department, Investment Promotion Department, and Overseas Investment & Reshoring Support Department.