K&L Gates has gained permission to open in South Korea, following a raft of international firms moving into the region.

The US firm's application to open a foreign legal office in Seoul has been given the green light by the Korean Ministry of Justice. The licence now awaits approval from the Korean Bar Association in the coming weeks.

If approved, the base will formally launch in January 2013, becoming the firm's 42nd global outpost and its seventh in Asia alongside Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo.

K&L Gates corporate and M&A partner Eric Yoon, who is currently based in New York, will be the office's foreign legal consultant.

K&L Gates chairman and global managing partner Peter Kalis commented: "The country's export-fuelled growth of the past decades has led to the more recent, and increasingly robust, trend of foreign investments overseas by its companies and financial institutions.

"We believe that our Seoul office will provide these outward-looking Korean business enterprises, wherever their destinations may be, with ready access to the resources of a single law firm that is both global and local at the same time."

The news comes after fellow US firm O'Melveny & Myers also this week received final approval from the Korean Ministry of Justice to open an office in Seoul.

This July Clifford Chance become the first UK firm to gain approval to open an office in the region, with the firm's nominated lead partner being approved as foreign legal consultants. In order to be registered as a foreign legal consultant, individuals need to have at least three years' experience practising the law of the country where their firm is based.

Other firms to have set out plans to launch in Korea include Ropes & Gray, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, DLA Piper, Herbert Smith Freehills, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, McDermott Will & Emery, Paul Hastings and Squire Sanders.