Recent Developments

On April 22, 2024, Lee & Ko Criminal Defense (Litigation) Team was introduced in Maeil Business Newspaper. Maeil Business Newspaper stated, “Lee & Ko Criminal Defense (Litigation) Team has led several landmark cases with huge reverberations in the legal field. The key to such achievements lies in the talented practitioners at Lee & Ko. This year, Lee & Ko recruited high-profile laterals, such as Donghyuk Kang, who previously served as Deputy Director General  for criminal trials at the National Court Administration and Head of the Sentencing Committee Support Team, as well as elite judges, including former Chief Judge Joonah Jang, Kisang Jung." Lee & Ko Criminal Defense (Litigation) Team is led by Pyoungkeun Song, the managing partner. He noted, "Due to the complexity of corporate criminal cases and the high level of expertise required, we are continuously striving to recruit and nurture outstanding individuals to maintain the highest level of competence in our Criminal Defense (Litigation) team. We also ensure meticulous management throughout the process, considering the significant impact of case results on each and every companies, and stay focused without losing attention to every minute details."

On April 22, 2024, Chosun Biz reported that Lee & Ko has established the largest Tech & AI team in South Korea, comprised of over 100 specialists, including lawyers and former regulatory officials. Chosun Biz stated, “The Lee & Ko Tech & AI team aims to provide comprehensive one-stop legal services that cover every aspect of utilizing AI and new technologies, from liaising with regulatory authorities, offering legislative consulting, and handling investigations and sanctions.” The team is led by Attorney Hwan-kyoung KO, who specializes in personal information, data, IT, and digital finance sectors.

As reported by the Korea Economic Daily on April 21, 2024, law firm Lee & Ko has been bolstering its Environmental Team. Established in 2016 with around 20 members, the team now boasts 32 specialists. Attorney Tong Keun Seol, who has served as a legal advisor to the Ministry of Environment, is leading the team. Additionally, attorney Hongkyun Kim, who has been teaching environmental law at Hanyang University for over 22 years, joined the team in 2022. This year, Younseob Lee, former Director General of the Planning and Coordination Bureau at the Ministry of Environment (who passed the National Higher Civil Service Examination in 1999), will be joining the firm to enhance its advisory capabilities in the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) field.

On April 19, 2024, Monthly Labor Law featured a comment from attorney Yoon Ryeong Eom at Lee Ko, regarding the referral of the constitutional appeal on the Serious Accidents Punishment Act to the full bench of the Constitutional Court. Representing the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, Eom noted, "Although this constitutional appeal was made before its application to businesses with fewer than 50 employees, the appeal is significant because it involves workplaces that face practical difficulties in complying with the Serious Accidents Punishment Act." He added, "Even though small and medium-sized businesses make their utmost efforts to comply, they may still fall short of the required legal standards. Thus, we plan to emphasize that applying the same causality and punishment regulations to businesses with fewer than 50 employees is excessively burdensome."

On April 15, 2024, E-Daily featured an interview with Lee & Ko’s attorney Seok Pyo Hong. The firm has recently received the Specialist award – Pro Bono at the 2024 IFLR Asia Pacific Awards, hosted by IFLR, a global financial and legal magazine, in recognition of its contribution to winning a lawsuit involving a refugee case. Commenting on this achievement, Mr. Hong, overseeing the firm’s overall public interest activities, said, “This signifies that Lee & Ko’s contribution to public interest has been acknowledged as the most impactful among law firms across the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia.” He further noted, “The award carries considerable significance in that it is unprecedented for domestic law firms to be awarded for their pro bono activities.”

On 8 April 2024, Aju Economy introduced the employment and labor practice team at Lee & Ko. Aju Economy stated, "Attorney Chang-soo Jin leads Lee & Ko's employment and labor litigation arm," and explained, "[Mr. Jin] graduated from Seoul National University Law School and was a presiding judge before joining Lee & Ko in 2016. He specialized in labor-related civil trials at the Seoul Southern District Court for five years." Aju Economy added, "Lee & Ko has formed an employment/labor specialist team of more than 30 members and actively targets the employment law market.” Aju Economy further stated that "recently, Lee & Ko has been turning up the heat by actively recruiting experts, such as former Daegu District Prosecutor's Office Chief – Sanghyun Lee, who specializes in employment and labor cases.

On April 5, 2024, the Korea Economic Daily reported Attorney Sangmin Kim's remarks from Lee & Ko. Speaking at the monthly forum of Korea ESG Club on March 20, she advised companies to proactively develop due diligence systems for their supply chains, regardless of the reduced scope of the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). She emphasized, "With the global expansion of mandatory supply chain due diligence, companies must establish and elevate their own due diligence systems to embody social responsibility and sustainability, thus attaining and sustaining trust from consumers and stakeholders."

On April 4, 2024, E-Daily reported that Lee & Ko has recently scouted foreign attorney Mr. Hyungi Ryu, enhancing the expertise of its corporate advisory group. Mr. Ryu is widely recognized for his proficiency in corporate M&A and private equity investment deals, particularly notable are his involvements in Hyundai Motor Group’s JV transaction with Aptiv, the acquisition of Boston Dynamics, and Centroid Investment’s acquisition of TaylorMade. Drawing from his prior experience, Mr. Ryu’s practice at Lee & Ko will focus on facilitating outbound investments for Korean companies and managing inbound investments for global private equity firms. 

On April 4, 2024, Digital Chosun reported that Attorney Hwan-kyoung KO from Lee & Ko was appointed chairman of the Law and Regulation Committee of the Supreme AI Strategy Council. Aiming to position itself among the top three AI-powered nations, the government initiated this council in collaboration with the private sector, including major corporations. The council, divided into six committees, will focus on expanding AI infrastructure such as talent and semiconductors, preempting future technologies through robust AI research and development (R&D), and formulating policies that ensure the safe utilization of AI, with an emphasis on ethical standards.

On April 3, 2024, E-daily reported on Lee & Ko’s winning of the Specialist award – Pro Bono at the 2024 IFLR Asia Pacific Awards, hosted by IFLR, a global legal magazine specializing in finance. The firm received this specialist award in recognition of its contribution to winning an administrative lawsuit against the Incheon Airport Office of Immigration on behalf of refugees from Mali and Angola, seeking the cancellation of the decision not to refer refugee status for review. This case has become a significant precedent for the Korean government to conduct the refugee screening in accordance with due process. 

On April 1, 2024, the Bell announced that, in its League Table for the first quarter of 2024, Lee & Ko has topped the list for Merger, Spin-off and Join Venture advisory services, with four deals totaling a transactional volume of KRW 1.5424 trillion, representing an adjusted share of 57.50%. “Lee & Ko has reclaimed its top spot in this category for the first time in eight years since 2016,” the Bell noted, “Kim & Chang moved down to second place after holding the first-place position for five years.” The four transactions in which Lee & Ko has been providing advisory services include SK Energy’s spin-off of SK Entern (KRW 948.7 billion), Douzone BizOn’s merger with Douzone Holdings (KRW 269.1 billion), and the merger of Woori Asset Management and Woori Global Asset Management (KRW 220.3 billion).

On March 30, 2024, Hitnews reported on Lee & Ko’s inclusion of Dong Hyeok Kang, former senior judge at the Seoul Administrative Court. Hitnews highlighted that the recruitment of Mr. Kang has garnered attention due to his unique stance in the Bilberry Fruit Dried Ext. lawsuit, where he was the only judge ruling in favor of the pharmaceutical companies.