S/C/N/808  
 
13 July 2015  
(15-3598)  Page: 1/5  
Council for Trade in Services  Original: English  
 
 NOTIFICATION OF REPUBLIC OF KOREA’S PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT TO SERVICES  
AND SERVICES SUPPLIERS OF LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 
The following notification from the delegation of the Republic of Korea, dated 10 July 2015, is 
being circulated to the Members of the Council for Trade in Services. 
 
_______________ 
 
 The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea in Geneva has the honour to notify to the World Trade Organization Council for Trade in Services the preferential treatment which the Republic of 
Korea has made available to services and services suppliers of least-developed countries in 
accordance with the decision by Ministers at the WTO’s Eighth Ministerial Conference on Preferential Treatment to Services and Se rvice Suppliers of Least-Developed Countries  
(WT/L/847), and the decision by Ministers at the WTO’s Ninth Ministerial Conference on 
Operationalization of the Waiver Concerning Pr eferential Treatment to Services and Services 
Suppliers of Least-Developed Countries (WT/L/918). 
 
The preferential treatment is made in sectors an d modes of supply that are of particular export 
interest to least-developed countries, as set out in The Collective Request Pursuant to the Bali 
Decision on the Operationalization of the LDC Serv ices Waiver Concerning Preferential Treatment 
to Services and Service Suppliers of Least Developed Countries (S/C/W/356).   
 The preferential treatment will take effect from 1 August 2015, and is intended to be maintained 
for the period of the Waiver. 
 1  HORIZONTAL  
1.1.  Measures affecting the entry and temporar y stay of natural persons as defined below: 
a. Natural persons who are engaged in the supply  of a contracted service as employees of 
a juridical person (Contractual Service Suppliers, CSS) that has no commercial presence in Korea, subject to the following conditions and any of the additional conditions 
mentioned in the sector specific section.
1 
b. The juridical person must obtain a service contract for a period not exceeding one year 
from a juridical person incorporated in Korea, who is the final consumer of the service 
which is supplied. The contract shall comply with the laws and regulations of Korea. 
c. The natural persons seeking access should be employees of the juridical person, who are 
supplying the service for a period not less than one year immediately preceding the date 
of their application for admission.  
d. The natural persons must possess the necessary academic and professional qualifications 
and professionally qualified competency-based experience to exercise an activity in the 
sector concerned pursuant to the laws, regulations or requirements of Korea and to 
accreditations by the relevant international organizations such as the Washington 
Accord, EMF International Registered Profe ssional Engineer and APEC Engineers.  
                                               
1 The Horizontal or Specific Commitments made under  1.1. do not apply to measures affecting natural 
persons seeking access to the employment market of Korea, nor to measures regarding employment on a 
permanent basis in accordance with the Annex on Movement of  Natural Persons. S/C/N/808 
 
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  e. The natural persons are required to receive no remuneration from a juridical person 
located in Korea.  
f. Commitments may be subject to the application of a numerical ceiling [modalities of 
application and level to be determined].  
g. The contract is required to be obtained in the following service-supplying activities or 
sub- sectors, without conferring entitlement to  exercise the professional title of Korea.  
 Services related to the instalment, management or repair of industrial equipment 
or machine, excluding construction and power generation equipment, for a 
juridical person in Korea which purchases the equipment or the machine from a juridical person employing the natural person located in any other WTO Member  
 Consultancy services related to the technical knowledge or skill concerning the 
natural science applied to information technology, e-business, biotechnology, 
nanotechnology, digital electronics, and environmental industry 
 Consultancy services for foreign accounting standards and auditing, training of 
CPAs, transfer of auditing technology and exchange of information related to 
accounting, auditing and bookkeeping services, to a Korean accounting firm or office through a membership contract  
 Architectural services subject to collaborat ion with architects registered under the 
Korean law in the form of joint contracts 
 Management consulting services   
Professional Engineers in the following services:  
 Consultancy services related to the installation of computer hardware  
 Software R&D based implementation services 
 Data management services  
 Data system services  
 Specialty engineering design services for automobile  
h. Entry and stay is limited to the duration of the contract, which is not exceeding one year. 
2  SECTOR-SPECIFIC 
2.1.  The following preferential treatment is ma de available with respect to the application of 
measures described in Article XVI of the Genera l Agreement on Trade in Services, subject to 
limitations set out in the Horizontal Commitments section of Republic of Korea’s Schedule of 
Specific Commitments (GATS/SC/48). 
2.2.  Unless otherwise stated, all CPC references correspond to the 1991 provisional Central 
Product Classification (CPC) of the United Nations. An asterisk on the CPC Code number indicates 
that the corresponding service sub-sector in this sch edule only covers a part or parts of the service 
sub-sector classified under the given CPC code  number. The entry "Unbound*" means unbound 
due to lack of technical feasibility. S/C/N/808 
 
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  Business Services  
Sector or sub-sector Limitations on market access 
 
E. Rental/Leasing Services  
 without Operators 
 a. Relating to ships  (CPC 83103)  
 
 
 1) None 2) None 
3) None 
4) Unbound except as indicated in the Horizontal 
Commitments section. 
 e. Other  
 Leasing or rental services 
concerning personal or household goods 
 (CPC 832) 
 
  
F. Other Business Services 
 
b. Market research and public  
 opinion polling services 
 (CPC 864)   
 
 f. Consulting services related  
 to agriculture and animal  
 husbandry  (CPC 8811*, 8812*) 
 
  k. Placement services of 
personnel 
 (CPC 87201, 87202)  
 Excluding placement services 
for seafarers under the Seamen Act 
 
  
  
1) None 
2) None 3) None 4) Unbound except as indicated in the Horizontal 
Commitments section. 
  
 
 1) None 
2) None 
3) None 4) Unbound except as indicated in the Horizontal 
Commitments section. 
 
 1) None 
2) None 
3) None 4) Unbound except as indicated in the Horizontal 
Commitments section. 
  1) None 
2) None 
3)  Foreign service suppliers may supply services 
only in the form of a corporation under the 
Commercial Act 
4) Unbound except as indicated in the  Horizontal 
Commitments section. 
 
 
 
Distribution Services 
Sector or sub-sector Limitations on market access 
 
A. Commission Agents' Services  
 (CPC 621, excluding   62111, 62112 and   commission agents'  
 services of future contracts)  
1) Unbound for pharmaceuticals and medical 
goods 
2) None 3) None 
4) Unbound except as indicated in the Horizontal 
Commitments section. 
 
 S/C/N/808 
 
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  Tourism and Travel Related Services  
Sector or sub-sector Limitations on market access 
 
C. Tourist Guides Services 
  (CPC 7472)   
1) None 
2) None 
3) None 4) Unbound except as indicated in the Horizontal 
Commitments section. 
 
 
Recreational, Cultural and Sporting Services 
Sector or sub-sector Limitations on market access 
 
A.  Entertainment Services  
 (CPC 96191, 96192) 
 
 Entertainment services 
provided by individual artists or 
groups such as musical, 
theatre, live band, opera, etc. 
  
1) Unbound 2) None 
3) None 
4) Unbound except as indicated in the Horizontal 
Commitments section. 
 
Transport Services 
Sector or sub-sector Limitations on market access 
 
 Maritime Auxiliary Services 
  Maritime agency services   (CPC 748*)
2 
 
  
 
 Rental of vessels with crew (CPC 7213) 
 
  
 
Pushing and towing services (CPC 7214) 
 
   
Tally, measuring and survey services 
(CPC 745*)  
 
  
  
 
 
1) None 2) None 
3) All the companies as stipulated under the 
Commercial Act are permitted.  
4) Unbound except as indicated in the Horizontal 
Commitments section. 
 1) None 2) None 
3) None 
4) Unbound except as indicated in the Horizontal 
Commitments section.  
 
1) Unbound 2) None 
3) None 
4) Unbound except as indicated in the Horizontal 
Commitments section. 
 
1) Unbound* 
2) None 3) None 
4) Unbound except as indicated in the Horizontal 
Commitments section.  
 
                                               
2 Agency services on behalf of maritime passenger transport businesses or maritime cargo transport 
businesses (including foreign transport businesses) under CPC 748. S/C/N/808 
 
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  Sector or sub-sector Limitations on market access 
 
C. Air Transport Services 
 
Maintenance and repair of aircraft 
  
  
1) Unbound* 
2) None 3) None 4) Unbound except as indicated in the Horizontal 
Commitments section. 
 
 
 
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