Firm Profile > Bae, Kim & Lee LLC > Seoul, South Korea

Bae, Kim & Lee LLC > Firm Profile

Bae, Kim & Lee LLC (BKL) is among the oldest and largest law firms in Korea with over 600 professionals. With practice groups specialised in every significant area of law for business in Korea, BKL supplies timely, accurate and practical legal support to its clients, wherever they are based, across a broad cross-section of industry, investment and finance.

BKL has long been at the leading edge of cross-border legal work in Korea. Among its many practice areas, it has been one of the busiest firms in Korea in the areas of M&A, finance and securities, advising clients from North America, Europe and Asia for over three decades. Likewise, BKL has built a reputation in the disputes arena not only as a litigation powerhouse but also as one of the top international arbitration and cross-border disputes teams in Asia.

Owing to the scale, quality and volume of its work, BKL has received many ‘Deal of the Year’ and ‘Firm of the Year’ honours. In every recognised client or peer assessment, BKL is ranked among the top firms in Korea. In all the firm does, it strives to provide client-focused legal services to its clients, many of whom have been with the firm for many years.

The firm’s clients include many multinational business groups and leaders in the Korean market. Manufacturer clients represent industries such as automotive, software, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas and shipping. Among its financial clients are banks, brokerage and asset management companies, insurers and private equity groups. Other clients are in energy, property development, retail and broadcasting, to name a few.

Headquartered in Seoul, BKL maintains overseas offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Dubai, Hong Kong, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Yangon. The first Korean firm to set up offices in China and the UAE, BKL has pioneered a region-wide approach to legal services. BKL is also the first Korean law firm to establish its branch office in Pangyo Techno Valley,  an industrial complex in the city of Pangyo, South Korea.  BKL is a member of the World Law Group and regularly collaborates with other firms across the world.

Lawyer Profiles

Photo	Name	Position	Profile
	Hyunchul An	Partner	View Profile
	Jong Min An	Partner	View Profile
	Maria Chang	Maria Chang is a foreign legal advisor in the firm’s tax practice…	View Profile
	Mr Ho Kyung Chang	Partner. Advises domestic and international clients in connection with a broad range…	View Profile
	Ms Il Young Cho	Il Young CHO is a partner of Bae, Kim & Lee LLC…	View Profile
	Eui Jong Chung	Attorney Eui Jong (EJ) CHUNG is a partner of Bae, Kim &…	View Profile
	Mr Gun Chul Do	Gun Chul DO is a partner and head of BKL’s Real Estate…	View Profile
	Joon Sung (Justin) KIM	Associate	View Profile
	Miro Kang	As an associate of Finance Practice Group of BKL, attorney Miro Kang…	View Profile
	Tae Uk Kang	Attorney Tae Uk KANG is a partner of Bae, Kim & Lee…	View Profile
	Mr Jong Ku Kang	Jong Ku Kang is a partner in our Maritime and Insurance Practice…	View Profile
	Mr Tony Dongwook Kang	Tony DongWook Kang is the partner in charge of the cross border…	View Profile
	Ho Jin Kim	As a member of the Securities, Banking and Finance Practice Group of…	View Profile
	Hyung Ro Kim	Attorney Hyung Ro KIM worked in the HR & Labor Relations Team,…	View Profile
	Junu Kim	Junu KIM is a Korean lawyer at Bae, Kim & Lee, LLC,…	View Profile
	Mr Woojae Kim	Senior associate specializing in international construction arbitration, investment treaty arbitration and cross-border…	View Profile
	Hyun A Kim	Partner	View Profile
	Mr Taeck Soo Kwon	Attorney Taeck Soo KWON is a partner of Bae, Kim & Lee…	View Profile
	Sangchul Lee	Attorney Sangchul LEE is a partner of Bae, Kim & Lee LLC…	View Profile
	Seungkyo Lee	Attorney Seungkyo LEE gained expertise from the experience in overseas power projects…	View Profile
	Mr Jeong Han Lee	Jeong Han LEE is a partner of Labor and Employment Practice Group…	View Profile
	Mr David MacArthur	Senior Foreign Attorney (admitted in Utah, USA) specializing in international arbitration and…	View Profile
	Ms Yoon Jeong Park	Senior Foreign Attorney advising on all maritime matters comprising of shipbuilding disputes,…	View Profile
	Kwang Hyun Ryoo	Kwang Hyun RYOO is a partner on the technology, media, and telecommunications…	View Profile
	Mr Wu Cheol Song	After serving as judge for 23 years and 6 months, he joined…	View Profile
	Sky Yang	Mr. Yang is a partner in the Corporate and M&A Practice Groups…	View Profile
	Jae Seok Yang	Jae Seok YANG is an attorney in Bae, Kim & Lee LLC…	View Profile
	Mr Seong Un Yun	Partner	View Profile

Spotlights

SOUTH KOREA

Bae, Kim & Lee LLC (BKL) is among the oldest and largest law firms in Korea with over 600 professionals. With practice groups specialised in every significant area of law for business in Korea, BKL supplies timely, accurate and practical legal support to its clients, wherever they are based, across a broad cross-section of industry, investment and finance.

Press Releases

BKL Named Best Firm in South Korea at Euromoney Asia Women in Business Law Awards 2017

Bae, Kim & Lee ("BKL") has been named the "Best Firm in South Korea" at the Euromoney Legal Media Group Asia Women in Business Law Awards 2017 hosted by the global legal publisher Euromoney Legal Media Group on November 9, 2017 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Hong Kong. Furthermore, senior partner Il Young CHO was honored as the best lawyer in transfer pricing while senior patent attorney Catherine Eunkyeong LEE was recognized as the best lawyer in patent and trademark prosecution among Asia's leading women in the legal profession.

BKL Partner Wu Cheol SONG Named “Disputes Star of the Year”

Wu Cheol SONG, a senior partner at Bae, Kim & Lee LLC (“BKL”), was named the “Disputes Star of the Year” in South Korea at the Asialaw Asia-Pacific Dispute Resolution Awards 2017 held on September 28, 2017 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Hong Kong.

BKL Partner Kap-You (Kevin) KIM Appointed as President of KCAB International Arbitration Committee

Mr. Kap-You (Kevin) KIM, a senior partner at Bae, Kim & Lee LLC (“BKL”), has been appointed as President of the International Arbitration Committee of the Korea Commercial Arbitration Board (“KCAB”).

Bae, Kim & Lee LLC Hosts Seminar on European Real Estate Investment

Bae, Kim & Lee LLC ("BKL") and Linklaters LLP jointly held the "European Real Estate Investment Seminar" on June 8, 2017 at the Park Ballroom of the Conrad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul, attracting approximately 150 attendees from legal and overseas affairs teams at leading investment institutions and asset managers, including pension funds, insurance companies, banks and securities firms.

BKL Hires Seong Soo KIM, Former Presiding Judge of Seoul Central District Court

Bae, Kim & Lee ("BKL") has hired Seong Soo KIM, a former Presiding Judge of the Seoul Central District Court as a partner in its litigation practice group.

BKL receives 10 awards at ALB Korea Law Awards, including “Deal Firm of the Year,” “Litigation

Bae, Kim & Lee LLC ("BKL") emerged from the ALB Korea Law Awards 2016 as one of the two biggest winners on the night, receiving highly coveted awards for "Deal Firm of the Year," "Litigation Law Firm of the Year," and "Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year." In addition, the firm's reputation as advisor of choice on the biggest and most complex deals in the market was confirmed by wins for "Deal of the Year" in nearly all of the awarded categories, while BKL M&A partner Ri Bong HAN was honored as "Dealmaker of the Year" for the second consecutive year.

Legal Developments

Reimplementation of the FSS Comprehensive Audit and Amendment of Korean Anti Money Laundering Laws

I Revival of Comprehensive Audit

1. Significance

The reinstatement of a comprehensive audit of all issues (as opposed to a special audit that is instigated when a particular issue has arisen) (“Comprehensive Audit”) by the Financial Supervisory Service (“FSS”) means that the selected financial institutions will need to be better prepared for the increased breadth and depth of the upcoming Korean regulatory audits. Impacted entities include: (i) Korean Financial institutions including banks, securities companies, insurance companies, and asset management companies; and (ii) local Korean branches and subsidiaries (including banks, securities, insurance and asset management) of foreign financial institutions.

The following takeaways are noteworthy:

Korean data law amendments pose new constraints for cross-border online services and data flows

Under amendments to IT Networks Act, set to take effect in March 2019, offshore online businesses, meeting thresholds of nexus to Korea, will be required to designate local agent for regulatory oversight purposes.

Amended rules will also newly restrict onward transfer (to additional countries) of personal information by offshore parties, and, on a reciprocity basis, allow regulators to restrict transfers of personal information to countries that likewise restrict outflows of such data.

New Legislation Reduces Maximum Weekly Working Hours in Korea

*For better understanding of this article with other graphics , we highly recommend you to visit our firm's website as below.
http://www.bkl.co.kr/upload/data/20180410/bkl-legalupdate-2018000410.html#.WsxBYIhuaHs

Nearly 4 years after they first began discussions to revise the law, the Korean National Assembly passed a bill on February 28, 2018 to amend the Labor Standards Act (“LSA”), to reduce the maximum working hours. The new law will reduce Korea’s maximum working hours (“Maximum Working Hours”) from 68 hours per week to 52, will make all public holidays mandatory paid days off, will reduce the number of special industries that are exempt from restrictions on Maximum Working Hours, and will provide much needed clarification on overtime premiums for weekend working hours. The law will become effective on July 1, 2018 and will apply to large companies before being rolled out in stages to smaller companies.

The main changes affected by the bill are summarized below. If you have any questions or would like further information on this topic, please feel free to contact us.

Supreme Court Renders Decision Calling for “Gender Sensitivity” in Sexual Harassment Cases

Amid the widespread attention that sexual harassment/violence in the workplace has received due to international movements such as the “Me Too” movement, the Supreme Court of Korea has recently rendered a significant decision on the need to reform the judicial system’s approach to sexual harassment cases.

[South Korea] Amendment to Unfair Competition Law

A bill to amend the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act (the “UCPA”) was promulgated on April 17, 2018, and is scheduled to take effect on July 18, 2018.  The bill introduces significant amendments to the UCPA, namely stipulating store interior designs as business marks and making the unauthorized use of “ideas” an act of unfair competition, thereby substantially expanding the applicability of Subparagraph 1 (j) of Article 2 (“fraudulent use of another person’s product”) of the current (or pre-amendment) UCPA.

[South Korea] Location information law amended to ease requirement for tracking of objects

Under changes to Location Information Act, to take effect in October 2018, businesses will be allowed to track goods after obtaining registration instead of license.

[South Korea] Amendments to Korean telecom license framework taking shape

• Legislators have put forward an advanced draft of amendments to the Telecommunications Business Act, Korea’s main telecom statute.

• The draft amendments, proposed on March 29, 2018, would finalize changes anticipated since August 2017, so as to relax license requirements and foreign ownership restrictions for telecom carriers.

• Amendments seem likely to pass within 2018, with effect 6 months following passage.

• Various standards will depend on further regulations, for which Ministry drafting is expected in coming months.

Virtual Currency – Financial Regulations to Curb Speculation and Money Laundering

On January 23, 2018, the Financial Supervisory Service and the Financial Service Commission published additional guidelines to regulate banking and financial transactions involving cryptocurrency exchanges (each, an "Exchange"). The key points of these guidelines are summarized below.

Virtual Currency – Enhancement of Control over Korean Cryptocurrency Exchanges

On December 28, 2017, the Korean joint task force on cryptocurrency, consisting of various governmental agencies including the Office for Government Policy Coordination, Financial Supervisory Commission, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, among others, announced that it will continue its implementation of its previously announced emergency measures on December 13, 2017 (for more information, please see BKL’s 12/14 newsletter), and in addition take the following actions.

Virtual Currency – Ban on Trading by Foreigners and Financial Institutions

In response to the recent speculation frenzy over virtual currency trading and increase in virtual currency-related crimes, the Korean government announced emergency measures yesterday, December 13, 2017, the main points of which are summarized below:

BKL Named “Competition & Antitrust Firm of the Year” by Asialaw

Bae, Kim & Lee LLC ("BKL") was named as the "Competition & Antitrust Firm of the Year" at the Asialaw Asia-Pacific Legal Practice Awards 2017 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Hong Kong on November 28, 2017. The "Competition & Antitrust Firm of the Year" is a highly coveted award bestowed by Asialaw, which is the Asia Pacific's leading legal publisher owned by Euromoney, a global business and finance magazine.

Virtual Currency – Korean Regulatory and Legislative Developments

Korean Virtual Currency Market Overview

The proliferation of virtual currencies in South Korea has resulted in a highly volatile environment for speculative and unregulated trading on the Korean virtual currency exchanges. The Korean virtual currency market remains desirable to issuers of initial coin offerings (“ICOs”), due in large part to Korea’s advanced e-commerce, online banking and P2P infrastructure being readily suited to the adaptation of blockchain technologies.

In recent months, the Korean government has shown growing interest in, and concern about, the widespread availability, sale and use of virtual currencies in Korea, particularly with regards to the potential for fraudulent or illegal activities, and the increasingly speculative nature of the Korean virtual currency market. In response, several Korean regulatory bodies including the Financial Services Commission (the “FSC”), the Financial Supervisory Service (the “FSS”) have issued proposals, guidance and directives in an attempt to formulate a regulatory response to the growing Korean virtual currency market.

Korea unveils proposed changes to telecom license framework

• Proposed changes to the Telecommunications Business Act would simplify and significantly relax license requirements, and ease foreign ownership restrictions for telecom carriers.

• The amendments also aim to require common carriers, especially mobiles, to offer a more affordable consumer telecom rate structure, under standards to be decided.

• The amendments seem likely to pass largely as-is by 1Q 2018, possibly coming into effect by mid-2018. A number of standards will depend on further regulations, for which drafts should issue in the coming months.

[Legal Update] Proposed Amendment to Reduce Capital Gains Exemptions…

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance announced its proposed tax law amendments for 2018 on August 2, 2017. This tax alert highlights the proposed change to the capital gains exemption currently available to foreign investors engaged in on-the-market transactions.

Korean tax authorities impose KRW 300 billion of withholding taxes on software license fees, looking

• Deeming Oracle US the beneficial owner, the Tax Tribunal upheld assessments against Oracle Korea on license fees paid to Ireland affiliate going back to 2008.
• Tax judgment is now on appeal by Oracle to the administrative law court.

The Korean Tax Tribunal has affirmed National Tax Service (NTS) assessments totaling some KRW 300 billion (approx. USD 260 million) against Oracle Korea, as withholding taxes on software license fees paid to an Ireland affiliate (Oracle Ireland), on the basis that beneficial ownership was with Oracle Corporation (Oracle US). The NTS, in 2011 and 2015, imposed the withholding taxes based on the Korea-US tax treaty, which calls for a 15% withholding rate as opposed to no withholding under the Korea-Ireland tax treaty. The Tax Tribunal has upheld the NTS assessments, citing among other things Oracle US’s ownership of the software and control over the income, as contrasted with the minor role of Oracle Ireland.

Recent Court Order On Google Related To Protecting Information Rights

Korean appeals court orders Google to disclose to Korean users what personal information Google passed to U.S. government.

A Korean appellate court has ordered Google Korea along with its U.S. parent Google Inc. (together, “Google”) to disclose to users of the Google search service, when they so request, the scope and status of the users’ personal information (including search records) that Google has provided to the U.S. government. The decision of the Seoul High Court, handed down in February (released in March) 2017, concluded that, notwithstanding the choice of California law in the terms of service, Google’s use and handling of information was subject to rights of the local users under Korean law, mandating disclosure to them of what was passed to third parties including the U.S. authorities – except to the extent the disclosure is prohibited under U.S. law.

Comparative Guides

• South Korea: Merger Control

  Published: September 2020

  Authors: Sung-ho Moon Junyeun Cho Junhyun Song Hyun A Kim

  This country-specific Q&A provides an overview to Merger Control laws and regulations that may occur in South Korea.

• South Korea: Insurance & Reinsurance

  Published: May 2020

  Authors: Jong Ku Kang Jong Min An Jae Seok Yang Ki Soon Kwon

  This country-specific Q&A provides an overview to Insurance & Reinsurance laws and regulations that may occur in South Korea.