Partner
Hodong CHA
Criminal Defense (Investigations)
Hodong Cha is a partner in the Criminal Defense Group at Lee & Ko. He joined the firm in 2026 following a distinguished 14-year career as a public prosecutor, mostly recently reserving as Chief Prosecutor at the Seosan Branch of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office.
Throughout his prosecutorial career, Mr. Cha held a series of key positions at the core of Korea’s criminal enforcement system, including roles at the Ministry of Justice’s Criminal Affairs Bureau and the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office (SPO). At the SPO, he worked in both the Planning and Coordination Department and the Trial, Litigation and Sentencing team, and he was also assigned to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, where he served in the Special Investigation Division and the Corporate Finance Division. In these capacities, he handled numerous complex and high-profile matters, including anti-corruption investigations involving senior public officials, Capital Markets Act cases such as market manipulation of listed companies, investigations involving executives of major conglomerates, trade secret and technology-related disputes, and serious workplace accident cases under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.
In addition to his investigative and trial experience, Mr. Cha was responsible at the SPO for the comprehensive review and interpretation of statutes, conducting legislative and policy analysis across a broad range of fields, including criminal law and procedure, civil and commercial law, and fair-trade regulation.
Building on this deep institutional experience, Mr. Cha now advises and represents clients in white-collar criminal matters and related risk management issues, with a particular focus on corporate governance, finance, capital markets, and digital assets. He is known for delivering clear, strategic, and high-caliber solutions tailored to the legal and business realities faced by his clients.
Throughout his prosecutorial career, Mr. Cha held a series of key positions at the core of Korea’s criminal enforcement system, including roles at the Ministry of Justice’s Criminal Affairs Bureau and the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office (SPO). At the SPO, he worked in both the Planning and Coordination Department and the Trial, Litigation and Sentencing team, and he was also assigned to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, where he served in the Special Investigation Division and the Corporate Finance Division. In these capacities, he handled numerous complex and high-profile matters, including anti-corruption investigations involving senior public officials, Capital Markets Act cases such as market manipulation of listed companies, investigations involving executives of major conglomerates, trade secret and technology-related disputes, and serious workplace accident cases under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.
In addition to his investigative and trial experience, Mr. Cha was responsible at the SPO for the comprehensive review and interpretation of statutes, conducting legislative and policy analysis across a broad range of fields, including criminal law and procedure, civil and commercial law, and fair-trade regulation.
Building on this deep institutional experience, Mr. Cha now advises and represents clients in white-collar criminal matters and related risk management issues, with a particular focus on corporate governance, finance, capital markets, and digital assets. He is known for delivering clear, strategic, and high-caliber solutions tailored to the legal and business realities faced by his clients.
主要事例
- [Corporate Crime & Finance]
- Market Manipulation & Insider Trading: Represented and prosecuted numerous cases involving stock price manipulation and the use of undisclosed material information within KOSDAQ-listed companies.
- Capital Markets Act Violations: Extensive experience in handling violations of the Capital Markets Act, embezzlement, and breach of duty involving CEOs of major conglomerates and listed corporations.
- [Industrial Safety & Serious Workplace Accidents]
- Serious Industrial Accidents: Managed a wide array of cases involving major industrial fatalities and injuries under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.
- Unfair Labor Practices: Handled multiple investigations into allegations of unfair labor practices at leading conglomerates.
- [Anti-Corruption & Special Investigations]
- Public Sector Corruption: Conducted high-profile investigations into corruption involving cabinet-level officials and violations of the Political Funds Act.
- Government Integrity: Managed numerous bribery and misconduct cases involving high-ranking civil servants.
- [Trade Secrets & Data Protection]
- Intellectual Property Protection: Resolved multiple cases concerning the misappropriation and leakage of trade secrets for both major enterprises and SMEs.
- [General Criminal Litigation]
- Entertainment & Media: Handled contractual and criminal disputes between high-profile artists and their management agencies.
- Real Estate & Construction: Managed complex lien disputes related to multi-purpose residential-commercial complexes.
- Digital Sexual Crimes: Served as the Lead Investigator (Task Force Head) for the "Telegram N-th Room" case, demonstrating expertise in cyber-criminal litigation.
学歴
| 2016 | Duke University School of Law – LL.M. |
|---|---|
| 2012 | Korea University Graduate School of Law – LL.M. |
| 2009 | Judicial Research & Training Institute, Supreme Court of Korea |
| 2003 | Korea University – LL.B. |
経歴
| 2026-Present | Lee & Ko |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Chief Prosecutor, Seosan District Prosecutor’s Office |
| 2023-2025 | Research Prosecutor, Supreme Prosecutors' Office (Planning and Coordination Department) |
| 2023 | Prosecutor, Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office [Criminal Division 7 (Finance and Education)] |
| 2022-2023 | Dispatch of Prosecutor’s Office Constitutional Issues Research Task Force |
| 2020-2022 | Prosecutor, Daegu District Prosecutors' Office |
| 2018-2020 | Research Prosecutor, Supreme Prosecutors' Office (Sentencing, Trial Litigation) |
| 2017-2018 | Dispatch to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Special Division 3) |
| 2016 | INT Consultant, World Bank |
| 2014-2017 | Prosecutor, Cheonan Branch, Daejeon District Prosecutor's Office |
| 2012-2014 | Prosecutor, Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office |
| 2009-2012 | Air Force Judge Advocate |
言語
| Korean and English |
受賞実績
| 2021 | Presidential Commendation for Meritorious Service in Prosecutorial Affairs |
|---|---|
| 2010 | Minister of National Defense Commendation for Excellence in Litigation Practice |
著書/活動
- Legislative Study on Directions Concerning Regulation of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Systems - Focusing on Duty to Disclosure and Transparency Regarding the Creations of Generative AI Systems Such as ChatGPT (Co-authored, Academic Journal Article, 2023)
- Study on the Sexual Crime and Criminal Regulation in Metaverse - Focusing on the direction of revision of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communication Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc - (Co-authored, Academic Journal Article, 2022)
- The Need for a Progressive Application of the Extraordinary Appeal System (Academic Journal Article, 2021)
- A Study on Ensuring Independence and Impartiality of Prosecutors- focusing on international study about prosecutors based on UN guidelines on the role of Prosecutors - (Academic Journal Article, 2020)
- The relation between originally-determined assessment and reassessment in Taxes litigation (Master’s Thesis, Korea University Graduate School, 2012)
- A Study on Noise Litigation Related to Military Airfields (Air Force Law Review, 2010)
- Author, Prosecution “Serious Industrial Accident STARTER KIT” (Manual Based on Analysis of Court Judgments and Decisions, 2025)
- Author, Prosecution Manual on the Enforcement of Virtual Assets (2022)
- Columnist, The Law Times (2022–Present)
