South Korea (asialaw)

Work highlights

Advised NH Investment & Securities, Korea Investment & Securities on Bionote’s IPO.

Advised Soosan Industry on its IPO. Soosan was one of only four companies that listed in 2022, and was the third largest company in terms of the amount of IPO procured.

Advised SungEel HiTech on its IPO on the Kosdaq.

Key clients

Hanwha Life Insurance, Soosan Industry, Export-Import Bank of Korea.

Work highlights

Represented Medytox in administrative proceedings involving a petition on merits and suspension of validity, and provided legal services on key issues relating to administrative dispositions.

Represented Kolon Life Science in a litigation and investigation arising out of falsifying a report on Invossa, a drug for osteoarthritis cell genes. This case is getting huge attention from the media since Invossa, the world’s first osteoarthritis medicine, hit mega sales in Korea.

Representing Sakata Korea in a trade secret dispute, seeking injunctive relief against the unauthorised use of its original seeds.

Work highlights

Advised Korea Investment SG Corporate Financial Stability PEF, Korea Investment PE on its investment in Daehan Shipbuilding.

Advised Kiwoom Asset Management on the sale of its shares of its wholly owned subsidiary, a fund formed and existing under the laws of Korea, to a wholly owned subsidiary of POSCO, a company established under the laws of the Province of British Columbia for a value of W169.9 billion ($128 million).

Key clients

Cactus Private Equity, Kclavis, KTB Private Equity

Work highlights

Advised Shinhan Card on the reversion of refunded value-added tax in relation to sales allowance.

Represented Taesung Steel in a lawsuit to set aside the imposition of an anti-dumping tariff. This case is significant, both as a high-value issue of over W10 billion and as a case related to anti-dumping tariffs, which represents a specialised area within the customs field. Moreover, the outcome of this case is likely to have broader implications for future cases, as it will establish a precedent on the role and significance of the investigation process that must precede imposition of anti-dumping duties.

Advised Rolex Korea on a $1.4 million tax litigation case to set aside a disposition imposing corporate tax on transfer pricing transactions. This matter is expected to provide a more precise interpretation on the appropriateness of an integrated evaluation of individual transactions, which often causes issues during tax audits on domestic multinational companies.

Key clients

Bucket Studio, Hanwha Systems, Hyundai Green Food, Kiwoom Asset Management