Lee & Ko

Managing Partner:Sang Gon Kim

Number of partners: 327

Number of lawyers:685

Languages:Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Russian and Vietnamese

Firm Overview:

Korea’s premier full-service law firm. Lee & Ko’s practice groups are consistently ranked among the top in each field of practice by leading Korean and international professional publications.

Practice Areas:

Anti-Corruption & Regulatory

Antitrust & Competition

Aviation

Banking & Finance

Bankruptcy, Insolvency & Corporate Restructuring

Capital Markets & Securities

Corporate & M&A

Corporate Governance

Customs

Energy

Environment

Foreign Direct Investment

Health Care & Life Science

Insurance

Intellectual Property

International Arbitration

International Trade

Labour & Employment

Litigation

Maritime & Shipping

Overseas Investment

Private Equity & Venture Capital

Privatisation

Product Liability

Real Estate & Construction

Regulatory & Compliance

Shipping & Transportation

Tax

Technology, Media & IT

White-Collar Crime

Main Areas of Practice:

Competition/Antitrust:

■ Successful representation of Alvogen Korea in the KFTC’s investigation into colluding with AstraZeneca Korea to delay the release of generic cancer drugs in exchange for exclusive distribution rights Korea, in a rare case with similarities to a reverse payment case, resulting in a significant reduction in fines and exemption from criminal referral; representation is ongoing in the administrative appeal.

■ Successfully represented leading Korean shipbuilders (Samsung Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering) as interested third parties against Gaztransport et Technigaz S.A. (“GTT”), resulting in the Supreme Court ruling that GTT engaged in abuse of dominance by tying engineering services into contracts for the licenses of key technology used in storage tanks for LNG carriers.

Contact: Hwan Jeong

Email:[email protected]

Banking & Finance:

■ Advised the Korea Development Bank for the refinancing of Busan New Port Phase 2-4 project finance (Approx. USD876,000,000)

■ Advised Hana Securities for its participation in the senior secured loan in connection with ArcLight Energy Partner’s acquisition of 8 power generating facilities in New Jersey (USD 1,240,000,000)

Contacts: Dong Eun Kim, Jaewoo Kwak

Emails: [email protected], [email protected]

Capital Markets:

■ The Export-Import Bank of Korea’s issuance of EUR1,500,000,000 Notes issued under the US$32,500,000,000 GMTN Programme

■ Kookmin Bank’s block deal of Samsung Electronics shares (Approx. USD1.1 billion)

Contact: Hyunjoo Oh

Email:[email protected]

Corporate/M&A:

■ Representation in acquisition of Osstem Implant by MBK Partners through Public Offering (Deal Value: USD 1.8 billion)

■ Representation in establishment of joint venture between LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor Group (Deal Value: USD 4.3 billion)

Contact: Hyun Tae Kim

Email:[email protected]

Dispute Resolution:

■ Representing Korean corporations in an arbitration against a US supplier of nuclear technology, wherein the US company alleges that the clients are not allowed to transfer the nuclear technology they intend to export abroad. This case holds significant importance for Korea’s nuclear industry.

■ Representing the chairman and CEO of a Korean conglomerate in a USD 900 million ICC arbitration brought by foreign investors after receiving a favorable award in a previous arbitration raised by the same foreign investors with practically identical requests.

Contacts: Sungwoo (Sean) Lim, Robert W Wachter

Emails:[email protected],[email protected]

Employment & Labour:

■ Successful representation of one of Korea’s largest (and the world’s largest) electronics manufacturer and services provider) (including being the world’s largest mobile devices manufacturer) in a precedent-setting, landmark case involving whether performance incentives must be recognized as wage items that are included when calculating severance, notwithstanding the relevant incentive payments being discretionary bonuses. If such incentive payments are recognized as “wage,” it could potentially open a floodgate of claims from former employees (who have already received severance that excluded the incentive/bonus), alleging underpayment in their severance packages. The outcome of this case could have massive commercial and financial ramifications for all employers, domestic and foreign, in Korea.

■ Successful and effective representation of the primary government mineral resources mining corporation in defense of its wage peak policy (i.e., employees over a certain age have their salaries reduced/capped in exchange for longer employment). The Korean Supreme Court held, in a qualified decision, that wage peak systems are invalid and can be implemented under certain conditions and laid out a factors-based test to determine the proper implementation thereof. Following the controversial Supreme Court decision, many disgruntled employees, who had their salaries reduced on their wage peak systems, began to file lawsuits against their employers to challenge and demand increases in their salaries. This case presents the case-of-first-instance where an already- existing wage peak system was held lawful and permitted to continue under the court's new standards – and thereby helping all employers defend, maintain, or implement wage peak systems lawfully and with confidence.

Contacts: Sang Hoon Lee, William Kim

Emails:[email protected],[email protected]

Shipping & Transportation:

■ Advised numerous Korean LNG shipping companies participating in international bids hosted by major LNG traders or producers, including Vitol, Shell, and Qatar Gas. Thanks to Lee & Ko's expert guidance, our clients secured multiple long-term charter-party contracts in each bidding, significantly enhancing their financial stability. These successes not only benefit our clients but also contribute to the overall strengthening of the LNG shipbuilding industry in Korea.

■ Advised a Korean cable production company called Taihan Cable & Solution (“Client”) intending to purchase and import a cable-laying vessel called MV Spirit (“Vessel”) from a Dutch owner called Boskalis. Lee & Ko has provided the client with comprehensive scope of advices relating to the purchase: deal structure, sale & purchase of the Vessel, inception of cargo insurance and hull insurance, registration of the Vessel in Korea, license issue under Korean Marine Transportation Act, bareboat charter and etc. Thanks to our expertise and experience, the Client successfully concluded this deal. This deal serves as a crucial stepping stone for the Client, providing a foundation upon which they can explore new business avenues, such as offshore cable laying projects or the development of offshore wind power plants.

Contacts: Jin-Young Jung, Yang-Ho Yoon

Emails:[email protected], [email protected]

Tax & Customs:

■ Successfully represented LH Company against the Korean tax authority’s (“NTS”) corporate income tax and VAT assessment, and, ultimately, nullified the assessment of corporate income tax of USD 329 million and the USD 1 million VAT..The case is very significant because of the large tax assessment amount, covering tax issues with implications for other real estate and construction companies in Korea.The positive outcome of this litigation at the Supreme Court level should be an important precedent in the real estate and construction industries.

■ Successfully represented Intergraph Korea against the NTS assessment of withholding tax on royalties.We thoroughly convinced the courts that payment for use of industrial software by Intergraph Korea to its U.S. affiliate (“Intergraph U.S.”) should be treated as business income rather than royalties, and thereby not subject to tax in Korea as Intergraph US does not have a place of business in Korea.Affirmed by the Korean Supreme Court, the positive outcome of this case is a very favorable outcome not just for Intergraph Korea, but for all other U.S. software companies in similar circumstances.

Contacts: Tom Kwon, Ok Hyun Ma

Emails:[email protected],[email protected]

Intellectual Property:

■ Successful representation of Coway, the No.1 water purifier company in Korea, in multiple invalidation and negative scope confirmation actions involving “sterilizing water purifier” patents filed by ChungHo whereby IP High Court found all claims in favor of Coway; as well as winning an appellate court judgment overturning the court of first instance decision in a separate patent infringement and damages compensation suit regarding “ice water purifier” patents filed earlier by Chungho involving tens of billions of damages in KRW (tens of millions in USD) that went on for 8 years.

■ Successful representation of SK Trichem, an affiliate of SK Group specializing in materials, in a patent invalidation action before Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board and IP High Court whereby the market competitor claimed invalidity of SK Trichem’s precursor-related patent, which is essential in semiconductor business.

Contact: Hwan Sung Park

Email:[email protected]

White Collar Crime:

■ Successfully defended in a case involving mis-selling of a fund whose size is 25 billion KRW.

■ Successfully defended in 150 billion KRW fraud case involving executives of a major cryptocurrency exchange.

Contacts:Changhee Suh, Dong Seong Nam

Emails:[email protected], [email protected]