The Korean government will allow foreign law firms from some Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signatory countries to set up local consultancy offices as early as September this year and has foreshadowed that full market liberalisation could occur by 2016 at earliest.

However, in order to qualify as local consultants, foreign firms will not be allowed to hire locally qualified lawyers, patent attorneys or accountants. Foreign lawyers cannot be self-employed consultants, practise local law or represent clients in court. Lawyers will need to have at least three years' overseas work experience. Those with two years' local experience will have to work overseas for a year and, after qualifying, all lawyers will be required to commit to living in Korea for at least 180 days a year.

The move comes in anticipation of a full legal market liberalisation pursuant to free trade agreements signed with the US and ASEAN, and negotiations are currently under way with Australia, EU and UAE nations. A spokesman from Korea's Ministry of Law said that the intention of the bill was not to provide job opportunities for foreign lawyers but to upgrade the local legal industry. "[This] law will not shake the local legal services market," said the spokesman. "A real showdown between overseas and domestic lawyers and law firms will occur around 2016 when the market will be fully opened to foreign competition. This announcement will help galvanise home-grown lawyers and law firms, and lead relevant organisations such as the Korean Bar Association to take steps to prepare for the ultimate opening."

A similar view was echoed by Korea-based foreign lawyer Thomas Pinansky, who said that the bill was not likely to cause an immediate overhaul of changes, as the status of FTAs signed with various countries are still pending. "The key event will likely be if and when the US FTA gets ratified by the respective legislative bodies, and there is still much work to do to get that done. In my view, this will be finalised eventually, and then gradually changes will begin ... in the Korean legal services market."

UK law firms may be among the first to gain entry to the local market, following lobbying efforts recently conducted by the Law Society of England and Wales.