Korea Business Registration Number: How to Verify a Korean Vendor

The first check is the vendor's current business status.

The Korean National Tax Service (NTS) provides a business status lookup using the Business Registration Number. The lookup can show whether the business is active, temporarily closed, or permanently closed, as well as its tax status. The NTS itself recommends checking a counterparty's registration status and tax type when receiving tax invoices.

For a new Korean vendor, the basic process is therefore:

Step 1: Obtain the vendor's 10-digit Business Registration Number.

Step 2: Run the number through the NTS business status lookup.

Step 3: Confirm that the business is currently active.

Step 4: Check the tax status if the transaction involves a Korean VAT invoice.

A valid result tells you that the number is registered with the tax authority and shows its current status. It does not, by itself, prove that the number belongs to the company name shown on the quotation, invoice, email, or website you received. That requires a second check.

For vendor onboarding, ask the Korean counterparty for a copy of its Business Registration Certificate (사업자등록증). Use the certificate to compare the information the vendor supplied, particularly the following five items.

Business Registration Number: certificate against your vendor master or onboarding form.

Company name: certificate against the contract and the invoice.

Representative: certificate against the information provided by the vendor.

Business address: certificate against the contract or your vendor records.

Business type and item: whether they are consistent with the transaction.

The purpose is simple: the NTS status check confirms the status of the number, and the certificate helps you confirm that you are dealing with the business associated with that number.

This distinction matters when a supplier sends an invoice containing a valid Business Registration Number but other information does not match your vendor records. Do not automatically assume that every mismatch is an error.

Under Korean VAT rules, business registration is generally made for each business place, and registration numbers are generally assigned by business place. A company with multiple locations may therefore use a different Business Registration Number for the location actually supplying the goods or services. Businesses using the business-unit taxation system are an exception and may operate under one registration number.

So if the number on an invoice differs from the number you have for the company's head office, ask which registered business place issued the invoice and obtain the relevant certificate.

Also check what type of number you have: a Korean Business Registration Number is a tax registration number, while a Corporate Registration Number is a separate number used for the legal registration of a corporation. If you need to verify the corporation itself rather than its tax registration status, the corporate registry is the relevant source.

The Business Registration Number is most useful when it becomes part of your normal vendor process rather than a one-time check. For a foreign company dealing with Korean suppliers, the practical control points are these.

Vendor onboarding: check the NTS status and obtain the Business Registration Certificate before activating a new Korean vendor.

Contracts and purchase orders: compare the contracting party with the registered business details. If a branch or separate business place is involved, identify which entity or business place is actually supplying the goods or services.

Invoices and Korean tax invoices: check that the supplier information is consistent with your vendor records. The supplier's Business Registration Number is one of the required items on a Korean tax invoice.

Payments: if the Business Registration Number, company name, invoice issuer, or other vendor information changes, resolve the difference before changing your vendor master or payment instructions.

Periodic vendor review: a business that was active when first registered as a vendor may later suspend or close its business. Companies managing large numbers of Korean vendors can automate status checks, since the NTS also provides a Business Registration Information Verification and Status Lookup API through Korea's Public Data Portal.

For companies that regularly receive or issue Korean tax invoices, vendor information also needs to remain consistent with the accounting and VAT records kept in Korea.