Donghyeon Kim

Verify these credentials

• Bar admission: search "김동현" in the Korean Bar Association lawyer directory (대한변호사협회 변호사 검색).
• KOTRA listing: Invest KOREA Law Firms directory.
• Publication: Lexology In-Depth: Foreign Direct Investment Regulation Guide, Korea chapter (Lexology).
• Firm and team page: saemunan.com/team · LinkedIn.

Publication: Lexology In-Depth, Korea chapter

Donghyeon Kim is the sole author of the Korea chapter of Lexology In-Depth: Foreign Direct Investment Regulation Guide, an annually updated international reference on foreign direct investment regimes read by counsel and investors worldwide. The chapter covers Korea's foreign investment notification regime, sector restrictions and national-security screening, incorporation routes for foreign investors, and the regulatory steps that follow an investment — the same rules this site applies to individual projects.

What he advises on

Founders, overseas parent companies, venture-backed businesses, investors and overseas counsel come to him for the legal steps of entering and running a business in Korea. Since 2020 he and the SAEMUNAN team have advised more than 200 foreign companies and investors, including parent companies from Singapore, Europe, the United States, Japan, Taiwan, India and Cambodia.

• Foreign direct investment notification and foreign-invested company registration
• Korean company formation and Korean subsidiaries of overseas groups
• Entity choice: stock company, limited company, branch, liaison office
• Shareholder, governance and capital-increase documents
• Corporate banking readiness, tax registration and first-year compliance
• D-8 investor visas and business immigration coordination

Guides he has reviewed

• Korea company formation: registration steps, costs, timeline
• Korea incorporation cost calculator
• Korean subsidiary setup for overseas companies
• Korea D-8 visa requirements
• Subsidiary vs branch vs liaison office
• Korea company formation costs