{"id":48978,"date":"2025-06-03T06:13:51","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T06:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/?post_type=press_releases&p=48978"},"modified":"2025-06-03T06:13:51","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T06:13:51","slug":"yoon-yang-scores-a-team-hire-for-its-international-tax-practice","status":"publish","type":"press_releases","link":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/press-releases\/yoon-yang-scores-a-team-hire-for-its-international-tax-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Yoon & Yang Scores a Team Hire for Its International Tax Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yoon & Yang, one of the big-six law firms in Korea, has doubled down on its international practice. The firm is being hailed for its \u201cgame changing hires\u201d for its international tax practice with the recruitment of three leading figures from a competing law firm \u2013 Messrs. Jay Shim, Sung Hyun Ryu, and Hoanku Lee.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Mr. Jay Shim is one of the leading authorities in the field of international taxation in Korea.\u00a0 His experience and reputation in the Korean tax markets require little introduction.\u00a0 With over 35 years of experience, Mr. Shim has founded, shaped, and led tax practices at some of the leading law firms in Korea, including as the former co-head of tax practice at Lee & Ko, a position he held for over a decade.\u00a0 In addition to his undisputed leadership in handling complex international tax planning and controversies, Mr. Shim has participated as an external expert advisor in the development of cross-border tax policies for the National Tax Service and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and has also advised on creating and revising laws and enforcement decrees concerning international tax law and regulations.\u00a0 He served as Co-Chair of the Tax Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AmCham Korea) for over 20 years and continues to speak at global forums, including the International Bar Association (IBA), the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA), and the International Fiscal Association (IFA).<\/p>\n

Mr. Sung Hyun Ryu, who also joins Yoon & Yang from Lee & Ko, is a litigation heavyweight in international taxation.\u00a0 In the early years of his legal career, he served as a deputy director for the National Tax Service (NTS), where he made his mark in the field of tax controversy with his role in litigating illegal VAT refunds and evasions surrounding gold bullion trades – known to be one of the biggest tax evasions in the nation\u2019s history.\u00a0 In recognition of his contribution, he received a Commendation from the NTS Commissioner in 2011.\u00a0 After transitioning to private practice, he quickly rose through the ranks and gained a reputation in the market for his quick hits in litigating cross-border tax cases with an emphasis on royalty withholding issues.\u00a0 Some of his recent victories include landmark royalty withholding cases before the Supreme Court, including the first case in which an Irish company was validly recognized by the Supreme Court as a beneficial owner of royalty paid from Korea to the Irish company for withholding tax purposes, over an allegation by the tax authorities that the Irish company was a mere paper company established in a tax haven acting as a conduit for its U.S. parent and that the U.S. parent was, in substance over form, the beneficial owner.\u00a0 Beyond his litigation success, Mr. Ryu has served as a member of the Financial Reform Advisory Committee under the Financial Services Commission and a legislative support advisor to the National Assembly.\u00a0 He is the author of The Tax Truth the NTS Won’t Tell You<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Mr. Hoanku Lee is a veritable tax visionary who, in his role as a legal advisor to the financial industry and the government, shaped Korea\u2019s automatic exchange of information systems (e.g., FATCA, Common Reporting Standard (CRS), QI program, and Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework) \u2013 a global tax regime aimed at enhancing transparency in the international financial system.\u00a0 He primarily focuses his practice on international tax and customs, providing high-caliber legal advice on tax issues related to the financial industry and capital markets with an emphasis on trust taxation.\u00a0 He boasts a high success rate in international tax disputes, including intercompany trademark royalty litigations as well as transfer pricing disputes.\u00a0 A notable representative matter includes a transfer pricing case in which the tax authorities tried to set a precedent and a guideline in Korea for the applicability of the profit split method as a transfer pricing method and fought the case vigorously for five years, with a high level of engagement and resources invested, and he ultimately secured a complete victory for the client.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trio\u2019s recruitment is a real game changer,\u201d said managing partner Myung Soo Lee.\u00a0 \u201cWe had explosive growth in our international tax practice in the past few years.\u00a0 It is a real time of momentum for us, and we are about to see an even more significant take-up of the market share in the upcoming years.\u00a0 Their recruitment is a major step for the firm\u2019s ambitions to grow its international tax practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yoon & Yang\u2019s Tax Practice Group comprises approximately 65 attorneys, tax attorneys, certified public accountants, and other advisers.\u00a0 The group won the \u201cTax and Trusts Law Firm of the Year\u201d at the Asian Legal Business<\/em> (ALB) Korea Law Awards 2020 in recognition of its role as a tax advisor in a cross-border real estate mega deal as well as its successful representation in a landmark value-added tax case.\u00a0 \u00a0The group was also recognized as the \u201cSouth Korea Tax Firm of the Year\u201d and the \u201cSouth Korea Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year\u201d at the International Tax Review (ITR) Asia Tax Awards 2019.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

For more information, please contact:<\/p>\n

Mr. Jae Hyuk Yang<\/p>\n

Senior Marketing\/Communications Manager<\/p>\n

Yoon & Yang LLC<\/p>\n

Tel: (82-2) 6003-7229<\/p>\n

Email: jhyang@yoonyang.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-48978","press_releases","type-press_releases","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/48978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press_releases"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}