Lee & Ko Welcomes Former Fair Trade Commission Official, Sung Kyu Lee, as Advisor

Lee & Ko has named Sung Kyu Lee, former Director General of the Cartel Investigation Division at the Fair Trade Commission, as Advisor. Lee graduated from the Department of Economics at Seoul National University, earned a Master’s degree from the Graduate School of Public Administration at Seoul National University, further completed an MBA at the University of Washington in the United States, and obtained a Ph.D. in Law from Hanyang University Law School, with a focus on big data. After passing the 42nd Public Administration Examination in 1998, Mr. Lee served in the core divisions of the Fair Trade Commission, including the Competition Promotion Division (currently the Anti-Monopoly Investigation Bureau), the Business Group Regulation Division, and the Competition Policy Bureau, and subsequently assumed senior posts such as Director General of the Cartel Investigation Division, Director of the M&A Division, Cooperation Deliberation Management Officer at the General Counsel’s Office, and Director of the E-commerce Investigation Team.

Notably, during his tenure, he led the complex merger review of Baemin-Yogiyo, two of the largest players in Korea’s platform industry. This merger is considered one of the most challenging and high-profile review cases in recent years. As Director General of the Cartel Investigation Division, he spearheaded key institutional reforms addressing critical cartel issues, including legislative amendments and the development of new review standards targeting information exchange collusion.

Sang Gon Kim, Managing Partner at Lee & Ko, commented, “Our Antitrust & Competition Group brings together attorneys, economists, and former fair trade officials to offer comprehensive, one-stop services ranging from corporate advisory, investigation responses, litigation, to criminal defense. Our sustained success is highlighted by significant victories in major cases, such as the recent all wins in the Korean Bar Association litigation concerning the legal tech platform, LawTalk. These capabilities have been recognized annually with top-tier rankings from renowned global legal directories, including Legal 500.” He added, “With Advisor Sung Kyu Lee joining our firm, who brings rich hands-on experience and outstanding expertise, we have further strengthened our antitrust advisory capabilities, solidifying our position as the premier competition law team in Korea.”