Seung-Jun Lee – GC Powerlist
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Asia Pacific 2014

Seung-Jun Lee

General counsel | KT&G Corporation

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Asia Pacific 2014

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Seung-Jun Lee

General counsel | KT&G Corporation

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In 2006, US billionaire investor Carl Icahn attempted a $10bn hostile takeover of Korean tobacco business KT&G Corporation. ‘This was probably one of the biggest challenges that my company had to face’, says general counsel Seung-Jun Lee. ‘It was also the biggest professional challenge I had to face at that time. After all this was the first ever foreign takeover attempt on a Korean company. I had no precedent to rely on. I had to focus on creating practical legal solutions on the fly’. The role he played in the company’s successful defeat of the takeover, Lee says, turned out to be the highlight of his professional career to date. During his long tenure with KT&G Lee has won a high level of respect from those he deals with professionally. For one private practice source : ‘He has shown great business capability, expertise, communication skills and passion to be a role model of others.’ Now heading a team of eight, Lee was responsible for developing KT&G’s entire global legal function. ‘KT&G Corporation did not have a fully functional legal department prior to my appointment,’ he explains. ‘I established the basic legal protocols currently being utilised on a company-wide basis’. To achieve this, Lee was required to create comprehensive contract templates and reporting and compliance procedures, whilst implementing day-to-day risk management. Though the process was tough, Lee feels a real sense of achievement at the outcome: ‘Not many attorneys can claim that they took part in building a legal department from the ground up.’ When asked what he enjoys most about his role, Lee points to the strong level of personal interaction. ‘I am inherently a gregarious person who advocates a hands-on approach.’ When asked what law firms could do to improve the service they provide, he points to a greater awareness of client needs, highlighting listening, responsiveness and tailored advice as areas of particular importance. ‘Selecting external counsel is like entering into a long term relationship.’

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