Yoon & Yang LLC's strive for excellence in litigation and criminal defense has recently passed another mark with the recruitment of two former presiding judges and one former chief prosecutor as the firm's new partners. Joining the ranks are Young Hyun Kim, a former Chief Prosecutor of the Foreign Criminal Affairs Department of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Su Yeol Lee, a former Presiding Judge at the Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Court, and Sang Jae Park, a former Presiding Judge of the Gwangju District Court. Their recruitment will enable Yoon & Yang to diversify its overall practice areas and become a frontrunner in the areas of litigation and criminal defense.
Young Hyun Kim joins Yoon & Yang’s Criminal Defense Practice Group after a life-long career as a prosecutor. Early on, he specialized in prosecutions of environmental crimes at the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office. Later, his focus shifted to special corporate investigation cases, which has since become his core expertise. He accumulated rich experience and know-how on corporate criminal matters. In particular, he is recognized as a leading expert in the financial and securities sectors, given his experiences with the Central Investigation Bureau of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the joint investigation group examining the savings bank corruption case and as legal advisor to the Financial Supervisory Service between 2011 and 2014. Thereafter, he worked as the head of the Securities Crime Joint Investigation Team at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office, handling major financial crimes in Korea. He also gained work experience in foreign criminal matters, including tariff and foreign exchange transactions, as well as in the defense sector while serving as the head of the Defense Industry Corruption Joint Investigation Team and the head of the Foreign Criminal Affairs Department of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.
Su Yeol Lee and Sang Jae Park, the new members of Yoon & Yang’s Corporate Litigation Practice Group, are leading experts with proven record in handling civil, criminal, and corporate law matters. As former judges, they offer hands-on experience in corporate rehabilitation and civil litigation as well as in specialized criminal cases.
Su Yeol Lee joins the firm after serving as a judge of the Seoul District Court, a judge of the Uijeongbu District Court, a judge of the Seoul Central District Court, the Director of Judicial Research of the Supreme Court Library, a Presiding Judge of the Ulsan District Court, a Research Judge (exclusive team; department head) of the Supreme Court, and most recently as a Presiding Judge of the Criminal Settlement Board at the Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Court. Mr. Lee has been recognized as the most versatile judge even within the courts as he has worked across a variety of areas, including civil and criminal cases, applications, warrants, and corporate rehabilitation, and served as a Research Judge at the Supreme Court of Korea. He was also the first judge to have served on the panel for resolving occupational safety cases, which was first established in 2016 at the Ulsan District Court in response to the frequent occurrence of occupational accidents in the Ulsan region. His rich experience in handling cases related to the Occupational Safety and Health Act along with the Act on Punishment of Serious Accidents, is expected to further strengthen Yoon & Yang’s expertise in the labor and criminal practice areas. Moreover, Mr. Lee is also known for being the first judge to have concluded the corporate rehabilitation procedure for a corporation through the relevant rehabilitation plan. In the past, corporations could only be released from rehabilitation procedure by merging with another corporation; otherwise they had to be declared bankrupt after discontinuation of the rehabilitation procedure. Mr. Lee set precedent by providing such corporations with a second chance. Being well-versed in the procedures and legal principles of insolvency, M&A, and corporate finance and having been an active member of the Insolvency Law Institute of Korea since its establishment, Mr. Lee is expected to demonstrate his talent in the area of corporate litigation.
Sang Jae Park, a veteran in criminal and warrant cases, joins the firm after a 15-year career as a judge. He served on the bench of the Incheon District Court, the Seoul Central District Court, the Mokpo Branch of the Gwangju District Court, and the Goyang Branch of the Uijeongbu District Court. He worked as a Research Judge (new criminal case team; exclusive researcher) of the Supreme Court, and most recently as a Presiding Judge of the Gwangju District Court. During his time on the bench, he demonstrated exceptional faculty in criminal matters and warrant cases. Having reviewed the basic direction for handling criminal cases while working as a Research Judge in the General Criminal Research Team at the Supreme Court, he is known in the legal circles for his careful attitude and balanced perspective. At Yoon & Yang, Mr. Park will make his mark in the area of corporate litigation, such as corporate civil and criminal cases, based on the expertise that he has acquired while handling criminal trials and criminal enforcement cases as well as civil cases at courts of various instances.
Yoon & Yang’s managing partner Jinsu Jeong said, “our firm’s Corporate Litigation Practice Group and Criminal Defense Practice Group, which consist of more than 70 partners including former Supreme Court Justices, have deepened its pool of expertise with the hire of former presiding judges and prosecutor,” adding that “as a litigation heavyweight in South Korea, Yoon & Yang will strive to provide the best solutions for its clients in the country’s most complex litigation matters.”