What this guide covers, and what it does not

This guide is for developers in Korea setting up a Google Play developer account for the first time, or deciding whether to move from a Personal to an Organization account. It focuses on the one decision that trips Korean developers up the most: when you create your account, Google Play asks you to set up a developer and payments profile, and that splits into two very different tracks, Personal and Organization. The right choice depends on how much of your identity you want public, and on Korean business and tax paperwork.

The actual RevenueCat and Google Play integration (creating products, connecting a service account, showing a paywall) is covered elsewhere. Set your account up here first, then follow those codelabs to build.

RevenueCat Google Play Integration for products, credentials, and connecting your app.
Test In-App Purchases in Google Play (Sandbox) to verify a real purchase before launch.
Shipaton 2026 Preparation Guide if you are shipping for a hackathon and need a launch runway.

Not legal or tax advice. This guide explains the general process and shares commonly reported tips. Rules, fees, and eligibility change, and your own situation (employment contract, health-insurance tier, income) may differ. Confirm the details on the official sites linked here, and consult a 세무사 (tax accountant) for anything that affects your taxes.

Two account tracks: Personal and Organization

When you create a Google Play developer account and its linked payments profile, you pick an account type. This choice shapes what appears on your store listing and what paperwork you need.

	Personal	Organization
D-U-N-S number	Not required	Required
Korean business paperwork	Not required to start	사업자등록 and 통신판매업 신고 required
Name shown on the store	Your real personal name	Your company (상호) name
Address exposure	Personal address can be exposed	Business address
New-account testing gate	12 testers for 14 days before production	Exempt: can publish publicly right away
Setup speed	Fast: ID and address only	Slower: paperwork first

Most individual developers start on the Personal track because it is fast and needs no company. The trade-off is exposure of your identity, and, over time, Korean tax obligations. The Organization track costs more setup effort but presents a company name and skips the new-account testing gate.

The Personal track

Requirements. No D-U-N-S number (D-U-N-S is a global business identifier and is not issued to individuals in the first place). You verify your identity with a personal ID such as a passport or 주민등록증, plus proof of your residential address. That is enough to register and start earning from in-app purchases.

The catch: your identity is public. On the Google Play store listing, the developer name shows your real personal name, and your personal home address can be exposed as the developer contact. If you would rather not publish your name and home address to every user, this is the main reason to consider the Organization track.

Taxes catch up with you. Under Korean tax law, once you earn in-app purchase revenue on an ongoing basis, you will eventually need a 사업자등록 (business registration) and a 통신판매업 신고 (mail-order business filing) to handle it legally, even if you started as a Personal account. In other words, the paperwork you skipped at signup often comes back later. If you expect steady revenue, doing it up front and going Organization can save a second migration.

The Organization track

Requirements. Three documents, all mandatory: a D-U-N-S number, a 사업자등록번호 (business registration number), and a 통신판매업 신고증 (mail-order business registration certificate).

Why it is worth it.

A company name, not your name. The store shows your official 상호 (company name) instead of your personal name, which reads as more trustworthy to users.
No testing gate. New Personal accounts must run a closed test with at least 12 testers opted in for 14 continuous days before they can publish to production. Organization accounts are exempt, so you can publish a public app right away. If you are on a deadline, this alone can be decisive.

Google requires the D-U-N-S for organizations. Since Google's 2023 identity-verification policy, you cannot create an Organization developer account without a D-U-N-S number, and there are no general exemptions. Google itself warns the D-U-N-S application can take up to 30 days, so treat it as the long pole and start it early.

Which track, and the roadmap to Organization

Going Personal is the common default: it is simple and immediate. The downside is that your personal information is exposed. If that matters to you, or you want to skip the testing gate and present a company, go Organization.

The three pieces of paperwork are sequential because each depends on the previous one. Run them back to back and you can finish in about a week (D-U-N-S issuance is the variable, so start it as early as possible).

Order	Task	Typical time	Depends on
1	개인사업자 등록 (register a sole proprietorship)	1 to 2 business days	Nothing
2	D-U-N-S number	Up to 30 days (free); around 8 business days (paid, expedited)	Business registration
3	통신판매업 신고 (mail-order filing)	About 3 business days	Business registration

Steps 2 and 3 both only need your business registration, so start them in parallel right after step 1. If D-U-N-S comes back quickly, the whole conversion can be done in roughly a week.

You also need a representative website. To switch a Google Play account to Organization, you must add and verify your organization's official website in the Console first. The button to change the account type stays inactive until that website is saved and verified. Have a simple company site ready before you start the switch.

Step 1: Register a sole proprietorship (개인사업자 등록)

Start here, because both the D-U-N-S application and the 통신판매업 filing require a business registration number.

Where. Online at Hometax (홈택스) under 사업자등록 신청, or through 정부24, or in person at your local 세무서. It is quick, usually 1 to 2 business days.

Pick the right 업종코드 to unlock the young-founder tax break. The 업종코드 (industry code) you choose at registration decides whether you qualify for the 청년창업 중소기업 세액감면 (young-founder small-business tax reduction). It applies only to the eligible business categories defined in the 조세특례제한법, so choosing a qualifying code matters. The founder must be aged 만 15 to 34 (military service, up to 6 years, is subtracted from your age when checking the ceiling). You do not claim the reduction at registration: you apply for it each year at your 종합소득세 (income tax) filing.

If you have a day job: registering a business is generally not reported to your employer. Simply registering a 개인사업자 does not notify your current employer, and joining another entity's 4대보험 does not automatically alert them either. It can become inferable only if your side income is large enough to move your 건강보험료 (a commonly cited threshold is non-wage income over about 20,000,000 KRW per year). Employees face no legal bar to registering a business, though your contract may have a 겸업 금지 (moonlighting) clause worth checking. This is general practice, not legal advice.

Step 2: Get a D-U-N-S number

A D-U-N-S number is a 9-digit business identifier issued by Dun and Bradstreet. Google requires it for Organization accounts. Request it from Dun and Bradstreet (in Korea, D&B Korea). It is free; a paid expedited option exists.

Prepare first.

Your 사업자등록증 (Korean business registration certificate).
An English business registration certificate, which you can issue from Hometax. It must be issued within the last 3 months.
An English company name that exactly matches the one on your certificate. All form entries are in English.

The flow. Register with your email, fill in the company and representative details in English (company name, CEO as the title, a +82 phone number, and the full company address with Korea, South as the country), search whether a D-U-N-S already exists for your company, and if not, submit the request with your Korean and English certificates attached. You receive the 9-digit number by email when it is issued.

Start this first and early. The free application can take up to 30 days (Google quotes the same 30-day figure), and a paid expedited request is typically around 8 business days. It is the slowest of the three tasks, so submit it as soon as your business registration is done. After the number is issued, wait 2 to 3 days before entering it into Google, so it has time to activate.

You do not enter the D-U-N-S here on the D&B site for Google. You will enter it later, in the Google Play payments profile, when you switch to Organization (step 4).

Step 3: File 통신판매업 (mail-order business)

This is the fiddliest of the three, so give it a few days. You must have your business registration first.

Where. File online at 정부24, 통신판매업 신고. Search 통신판매업 and start the filing.

What you enter. Your 상호 (business name), 사업자등록번호, contact number, address, and email from your business certificate. For an app business, set the 판매방식 (sales method) to 기타 and the 취급품목 (products) to 어플리케이션. Because you are not doing prepayment-based sales, attach the 구매안전서비스 비적용 대상 확인서 (the exemption form, so you do not need an escrow certificate), then agree and submit.

Pay the 등록면허세 at 위택스, not 홈택스. After filing you owe a 등록면허세 (registration license tax), a local tax, so you pay it at 위택스 (Wetax), or 이택스 (Etax) in Seoul, not at Hometax. The amount depends on your jurisdiction's population: about 40,500 KRW for cities over 500,000 people, 22,500 KRW for other 시, and 12,000 KRW for 군 areas. It recurs each January.

Online filings usually complete in about 3 business days (the official window can read longer), with an SMS notice. Afterward, look up your 통신판매번호 at the 공정거래위원회 (Fair Trade Commission) under 사업자정보공개, and you have your 통신판매업 신고증.

Step 4: Switch your Play Console account to Organization

With all three documents in hand, convert the account.

Add and verify your organization website first. In the Play Console, enter your official company website, save it, and send the verification request. The option to change the account type does not appear until the website is verified. This is the step most people miss.
Go to Developer account, then About you.
Click Change account type.
Create or select a payments profile. When you create a new organization payments profile, you enter your D-U-N-S number here.
Confirm and save. Your account now presents your company name, and it is exempt from the new-account testing gate.

Have the details match. The company name and address on your D-U-N-S, your 사업자등록증, and your Google payments profile should agree. Mismatches are the usual cause of verification delays.

Recap and next steps

You now know the two Google Play account tracks and how to set up either one in Korea:

Personal is fast and needs only your ID, but it exposes your real name and address, and Korean taxes will eventually require the business paperwork anyway.
Organization presents your company name and skips the 12-tester, 14-day testing gate, at the cost of three documents.
To go Organization, run the paperwork in order: 1) 개인사업자 등록, 2) D-U-N-S (start early, up to 30 days), 3) 통신판매업 신고. Done back to back, that is about a week.
Then add and verify your company website in the Console to unlock the account-type switch, and enter your D-U-N-S in the payments profile.

With the account set up, build the integration:

RevenueCat Google Play Integration to create products and connect your app.
Test In-App Purchases in Google Play (Sandbox) to verify a real purchase.
Shipaton 2026 Preparation Guide for a full launch runway.

One more time: start the D-U-N-S early. It is the only task with a multi-week tail. Register your business, then submit the D-U-N-S the same day, and file 통신판매업 while you wait.