Recent Developments

December 29, 2025
Dong-A Ilbo introduced Lee & Ko’s Management Dispute Team, reporting “Since April of this year, Lee & Ko has expanded its 'Management Control Dispute Team' by appointing two lawyers, Dajoo Jung (31st Judicial Research and Training Institute) and Sejoong Lee, both having experience in the field of M&A and as former judges, as co-team leaders.” The report continued, “Recently, members of the team helped secure an acquittal for Jae-Hyeon Bae, the former head of Kakao’s investment division, and Kakao Corporation in a first-instance ruling related to stock manipulation charges. This highlights one of the strengths of the team, as M&A-specialized lawyers provide advice on corporate management disputes, while former judges can step in at any time to handle related derivative criminal cases.''
 

June 30, 2025

Korea Economic Daily reported that Korea Wafer Holdings (represented by Lee & Ko) has successfully acquired the management rights of 3S KOREA, the only domestic KOSDAQ-listed Front Opening Shipping Box (FOSB) manufacturer and the 6th largest company by market share in the global market. The article stated, "From the preparation phase of the hostile takeover, Korea Wafer Holdings, represented by Lee & Ko, conducted a detailed analysis of 3S KOREA’s governance vulnerabilities. While the existing management of 3S KOREA actively defended against the takeover for an extended period, they ultimately agreed to a settlement in early June, concluding that further resistance was futile. On June 26, at the regular shareholders’ meeting, all of the individuals nominated by Korea Wafer Holdings were appointed as directors, fully transferring the management control." 

Dajoo Jung, Kyungchun Kim, and Geun Hyung Yoon, attorneys of Lee & Ko who provided legal advice for this case, stated, "It is extremely rare to find a precedent where an attacker accumulates shares in the market to become the largest shareholder and then successfully executes a comprehensive attack to complete a hostile takeover in such a short period." They further noted, "This is especially a rare case where an attacker has acquired the management control of a listed company through a hostile takeover, which will serve as a valuable reference for future hostile takeovers and management rights disputes."
 

On April 17, 2025, the JoongAng Ilbo featured the Corporate Control Disputes Team of Lee & Ko. The article reported, “Lee & Ko has established a permanent task force dedicated to corporate control disputes, providing comprehensive responses ranging from shareholder and Proxy advisory firm engagement to media strategies.”
It went on to explain, “Responding to corporate control disputes requires expertise in both traditional M&A and litigation. This makes it an area where Lee & Ko, a longstanding powerhouse in M&A and a rapidly rising player in litigation, can showcase its strengths most effectively.”
The article continued, “Responding to disputes over corporate control—a field regarded as the epitome of M&A—requires a multifaceted approach that takes into account hostile opponents and various stakeholders, as well as the ability to adapt to constantly evolving circumstances. In this regard, extensive M&A experience is absolutely essential.”
Finally, the article emphasized, “Lee & Ko has consistently received top-tier (Band 1) rankings from major domestic and international evaluation agencies such as Chambers and The Legal 500 for decades. This solid foundation enables the firm to deliver optimal strategies for any type of corporate control dispute.”

February 28, 2025
An interview with Tae Jung Kim and Hee Woong Lee, Lee & Ko’s attorneys, was featured in EDAILY. In response to questions about the upcoming shareholders' meeting season in March, they stated, "Individual investors' interest in the capital market has significantly increased compared to the past. As a result, there is greater attention on shareholders' meetings, and recently, approval of executive compensation limits and the actions of minority shareholders have become key issues."

Additionally, Tae Jung Kim emphasized, "Recent lower court rulings have suggested that the voting rights of major shareholders on matters such as executive compensation limits should be restricted even in cases of compensation limits for registered executives," noting that if the Supreme Court confirms such rulings, there will likely be increased pressure from minority shareholders. As such, he further stressed that companies should thoroughly prepare in advance to gain the support of external shareholders by establishing reasonable decision-making criteria.
 

February 12, 2025
EDAILY reported on a seminar titled "Discussion on Practical Issues Related to Shareholders' Meeting Preparation and Operations in In-house Practice," jointly hosted by Lee & Ko and the In-house Counsel Association. The seminar was conducted as a town hall meeting, where Lee & Ko’s lawyers Tae Jung Kim and Hee Woong Lee, along with other lawyers from the Korean In-house Counsel Association, freely exchanged opinions on various relatively small topics based on pre-submitted questions from attendees. The seminar began with the issue of “special interests in the approval of director compensation limits,” which has recently become an important issue due to a series of lower court rulings that conflict with existing practices, and continued with heated discussions on a variety of issues, including “proxies for reviewing proxy statements, including electronic proxy statements,” which is still in the introduction stage, “problems with responding to general meeting attendees,” which is a frequent issue related to general meetings, and “problems with responding to issues raised by minority shareholders,” which is becoming increasingly more severe.
 

September 1, 2024
An interview with Lee & Ko’s Management Rights Disputes Team, including attorneys Ho Joon Moon, Dajoo Jung, was published in Bloter. In the interview, they stated “it is important to consider not only legal perspectives but also the perspective of the general shareholders, the social implication and significance of the transaction, and the well-being of the parties involved in management disputes.”