Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Trevor]

Is it possible to invest in Korea besides putting money in a bank account?

[hogwonguy1979]

yeah you can open a brokerage acct in Korea, in fact a number of foreigners I know have done it and have made some money at it.

On the upside there is no capital gains tax in Korea. Regarding US taxes if you earn the money in Korea then its subject to the foreign income exclusion so you are OK there, I'm not sure how the US would tax capital gains in Korea, I highly doubt you would have to worry about it since I bet they wont report it to the IRS

[Trevor]

[bobbyhanlon]

the only one i know in english is samsungfn.com, basically that's samsung securities' online trading site. to do this, go to one of their branches (they're everywhere)- look for 삼성증권. their commission is quite high compared to other brokerages, but compared to u.s, britain, etc. its still really cheap.
when you go there, take your alien card, passport, etc. You'll have to fill out a few forms but its really easy, and you'll be able to trade on the same day.
execution-only brokerage in korea is awesome. you also get some cool trading software with charts and data which you would probably have to pay decent money for back home.

[Sina qua non]

I've had stock investments here for several years, and I would second the recomendation for the Samsung Securities website. However, since this site has a comparative dearth of useful information in English (balance sheets, income/cash flow statements, etc.) I would also suggest a review of the Woori Investment website, as well. However, in terms of costs, Samsung's commissions are about 1/3 of Woori's commissions.

About U. S. taxes, you are required to report capital gains and dividend income to the U.S. on your annual tax return. This income is different from the income exempted under the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (up to $80,000 or so per year). Earned income is money you earn by doing something; income from investments and the like are unearned income.

I am not a tax expert, but I have been dealing with this for a while. Capital gains and dividend income are treated just as if you had earned them investing in the U. S. stock market. Additionally, within the Korean system, capital gains and dividend income to U. S. citizens is exempted from Korean taxes.


However, I do have a question concerning investing in the Korean stock market while living and working outside of Korea (i.e., teaching English full time in Japan, for example). Has anyone had any experience with this? What kind of paperwork is required?

[Trevor]

[Sina qua non]

[mytime]

In connection to the last question:
I have been doing some research for a while now on investing and as far as I know you wont be able to keep your account because these days with the anti-money laundering legislation you need to proof your legal address when you open an account and therefor if you move, you'll need to notify the Korean company about your new address and since they are catering to korean residents (and not residents in other countries), they will most likely ask you to close your account with them when you leave.

But I have noticed that E*trade has a Korean website and on that website there's a link to the English version of the Korean site but when you click on it they say that the english version is not yet ready.
I suppose when they finish building the english site, you can do your investing through them and as they are an international company, you would probably be able to keep your account or alter it.

What you can also do is go on google and find a list of the top online brokers worldwide...I have done it and some do allow you to invest on the Korean market (and other intl markets) even if you are not a resident....(sorry but I cant remember which sites anymore)


I have a question too:

Does anyone know if there are any brokers in Korea which allows us foreigners to invest on another stock market (for ex. london or new york)?

I have searched for such a broker but found nothing

[mytime]

Actually I seem to be wrong about samsungfn just being for korean residents
According to this link foreign residents can open an account:

http://english.samsungfn.com/fn_eng/contents/accounts/accounts_index.jsp
( click on "procedure for setting up an account")


So i guess you can keep an account if you leave.

Contact them if you want to know for sure:

English-speaking consultants :
- W.Y. Kang ( [email protected])
- Y.J. Hwang ( [email protected])

TEL : 82-2-721-7053
FAX : 82-2-721-7098