The foreign investment ombudsman is recommended by the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, deliberated upon by the Foreign Investment Committee, and commissioned by the President of the Republic of Korea.

When handling complaints of foreign investors and foreign-invested companies, the foreign investment ombudsman may request support from the heads of related administrative organizations and competent authorities in several areas. Heads of related organizations must cooperate, unless there is any special reason.

The foreign investment ombudsman investigates and handles complaints of foreign investors and foreign-invested companies, devises improvement measures for foreign investment system, and delivers proposals to related administrative or public organizations.

The Office of the Foreign Investment Ombudsman has been established under KOTRA in order to support the foreign investment ombudsman, and the head of the office is the foreign investment ombudsman. This head may request cooperation of related administrative organizations or competent authorities to handle complaints from foreign investors and foreign-invested companies.

Home Doctors are consultants designated per region or foreign-invested company who efficiently handle complaints of foreign investors and foreign-invested companies.

1. 01

   Complaints are received via a phone call from a Home Doctor, a site visit, online, or through e-mail.

2. 02

   The Home Doctor reviews the complaints and contacts related organizations to seek solutions.

3. 03

   Complaint handling is input and managed through KOTRA’s Smart Customer Relationship Management (SCRM) system.

4. 04

   The foreign investor or foreign-invested company is notified once the case has been resolved.

The Office of the Foreign Investment Ombudsman operates an online regulatory information service, together with the Regulatory Reform Committee of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, in order to collect and incorporate opinions from foreign-invested companies that may be neglected during the legislation process. Regulations related to foreign investment formulated in the government and the national assembly are translated into English, and opinions of foreign-invested companies are delivered to related organizations.