As booze and babies illustrate in today’s newspapers, the consumer price impacts by the EU & US FTAs may have been blown way out of proportions by both proponents and opponents of these trade treaties. The big price inflators are, normally, not duties but distribution costs and sometimes excise taxes. In time, some of the new import price savings resulting from tariff reductions may be passed on to consumers as more importers and distributors provide Korean consumers with foreign goods. But that will happen only so long
Continue readingCategory: Korean Business Law
Foreign-Capital Invested Companies in Korea Subsidies for Employing New Workers in Seoul, Korea
The Seoul Government has issued the following official notice in order to inform foreign-capital invested companies of a program to partially subsidize the wages of newly hired Korean employees. We have recently advised clients eligible for this program in our quarterly legal update. We have also advised on the numerous other new tax holiday, incentive, and other programs available to foreign businesses operating in Korea and will be posting some of these updates on this blog over the next couple of weeks. We think this program is
Continue readingEnter the Korean Market – Then Enter China and Japan
Secretary General Jean Jacques Grauhar made many interesting comments in the EU Chamber’s August 2011 issue of Infomag. He is the most Texas looking Frechman I have ever met. The Secretary General mentioned something that I think all global businesses should recognize. He notes that: While the world focuses on the Chinese market, company executives should also try to include Korea in their itinerary whenever they visit this part of the world, because a presence in South Korea is indispensable for truly global brands and could in
Continue readingFailed Korean Corporate Compliance and the Role of Attorneys in Korea
The following article appeared in the Korea Times on May 6, 2011. The National Assembly of Korea, recently, voted in favor of a bill that requires listed companies with large market capitalizations to establish independent compliance support offices. Business organizations strongly opposed the bill. The details of the system are not yet known, since many key aspects of the bill have been delegated to the president through an enforcement ordinance. The surface purpose of the bill is to improve companies compliance with Korean law, thus, upgrading the
Continue readingKorean Price-Fixing Law: Defining the Relevant Market in Korea Antitrust Law
The Seoul High Court (2009 NU 1930, May 19, 2010) has overruled a decision of the Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) in a case concerning price-fixing by luxury car importers. The KFTC has appealed the this pivotal price-fixing case. We shall update the reader. The High Court ruled that a price-fixing arrangement (restriction on discounts from MSRP) between Lexus car dealers was not an “unfair collective act” under Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act Art. 19 (1) thus overruling the decision of the KFTC that imposed a
Continue readingKorean Corporate Forms under the Korean Commercial Code: Forming a Company in Korea
There are four basic corporate entities under the Korean Commercial Code. The first to forms are the most usual forms for a foreign capital-invested company to form a company in Korea. 1. Chusik Hoesa (Joint Stock Company)Only form of corporate entity that is allowed to publicly issue shares. An article will be posted on the specifics of forming a Chusik Hoesa in the next couple of weeks. 2. Yuhan Hoesa (Limited Liability Company)A closely held company that is prohibited from having more than 50 shareholders. In recent
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