Is a South Korean sole proprietorship eligible for Artifact Signing Organization validation?

A South Korean sole proprietorship should apply through Public Trust Organization/DBA validation, but Microsoft’s published guidance does not guarantee that every Korean sole proprietorship will pass or specify the Korean business identifier and documents accepted during review.

Eligibility and validation path

• South Korea is supported for Public Trust organization validation.
• Individual Developer validation is not available to South Korean applicants; that route is limited to individuals in the United States and Canada.
• The Organization workflow expressly covers an Organization or DBA, making it the applicable available route for a registered sole proprietorship operating under a business name. Final acceptance still depends on Microsoft’s private validation review. ^1^

Therefore, select:

Artifact Signing account → Identity validations → Organization → New Identity → Public

Do not select Individual, even though the proprietor is a natural person.

Information to prepare

The Organization form requires:

• Legal business name
• Website belonging to the business
• Two monitored email addresses on the business-owned domain
• Business identifier
• Registered business address
• The proprietor or representative’s first and last name exactly as shown on government-issued identification

The representative subsequently completes individual identity verification as part of the organization-validation process. If additional evidence is needed, the request changes to Action Required, and instructions are sent privately by email. ^1^

Microsoft does not currently publish an Artifact Signing country-specific rule identifying:

• Whether the Korean 사업자등록번호 is the required value for Business Identifier
• Its required formatting
• Whether a Korean business registration certificate alone is sufficient
• A definitive document list for Korean sole proprietorships

Consequently, do not substitute a corporate registration number if the business does not have one or invent another identifier. Enter the identifier associated with the registered legal business only when the form or private verifier confirms the expected Korean identifier. Keep the National Tax Service registration certificate and matching proprietor identification available for the private review, but upload or disclose them only through the validation workflow or an Azure support case.

Subscription, billing, and region requirements

1. Use a paid Azure subscription. Free, trial, and sponsored subscriptions are unsupported. Upgrade to pay-as-you-go or use an enterprise-agreement subscription before creating the Artifact Signing resources. ^2^
2. An Azure billing account with Account Type = Organization is not required for Organization identity validation. The billing-account type matching requirement applies only to Individual validation. ^1^
3. Create the resource in a supported Artifact Signing region. Korea Central is supported, as are the other regions listed in the quickstart. The validation country and Azure deployment region are separate selections; South Korean eligibility does not require inferring support from unrelated Azure services. ^1^
4. Before submitting validation, the operator needs the Artifact Signing Identity Verifier role. Identity validation can be completed only in the Azure portal, not through Azure CLI. ^1^

Safest pre-purchase confirmation

Because the published rules do not settle the sole-proprietor identifier or evidence question, obtain written confirmation through an Azure support ticket before creating the billable account. Ask support to confirm:

• Whether a National Tax Service-registered Korean 개인사업자 is accepted as an Organization/DBA
• Which value belongs in Business Identifier
• Which Korean government document establishes the business name and address
• Whether the website and business-domain email requirements permit any exception in this case

Azure support tickets are the documented private support channel for Artifact Signing onboarding. ^2^ Do not include registration numbers, addresses, identity documents, or payment details in a public Q&A post.

References

1. Quickstart: Set up Artifact Signing
2. Artifact Signing FAQ