最新消息

Amidst keen interest and participation, the Customs Practice Group of Lee & Ko hosted the ‘2024 Seminar for Customs Regulatory Discussions’ on Friday, 29th March, 2024.

Miscellaneous domestic and global corporate clients involved in the export, import, and trade sectors attended the seminar. The customs experts of Lee & Ko were met with an array of questions, comments, discussions raised by the participants on a broad range of topic, including 2024 customs/trade law updates, preferential tariff system, Korea Customs Service (“KCS”) trend/practice.

Among the tripartite seminar, the first session covered ‘Noteworthy Amendments to Customs, Trade, Foreign Exchange laws’, presented by Marvin. Marvin, with working experience a licensed customs broker before being admitted to the Korean Bar and joining Lee & Ko, is a up-and-coming customs attorney. He covered the complex web of customs related laws and regulations with ease, making ample use of key cases and easy-to-understand explanations.

The second session covered ‘Utilization & Fresh Issues of the Preferential Tariff System(Quota, FTA, etc.)’, presented by JW Cho. JW is a partner, with expertise in the customs profession thanks to multiple years of service in KCS(Seoul, Incheon Customs Offices) and Lee & Ko Customs Practice Group. Based on his experience within the public and private sectors, he elaborated on practical checkpoints (and, not to speak of, red flags) which should be noted for export and import business enterprises to ameliorate their trade compliance scheme and reduce customs-related concerns.

The third and final session covered ‘Recent Korea Customs Service’s administrative trends and implications’, jointly presented by Seung-Hak Shin and Young-Gee Park. Prior to joining Lee & Ko as an expert customs consultant, Mr. Shin had accumulated much practical knowledge working in KCS and multiple regional customs offices. Drawing from his knowledge, he shared highly practical points on the recent customs audit trend. As the lead partner of Lee & Ko Customs Practice Group and a former senior ranking officer in KCS, Mr. Park delineated essential parts of the recent customs criminal investigation trend for multinational & Korean businesses.

At the end of the line, the seminar wrapped up after a Q&A session with the Lee & Ko speakers and participants.

Young-Gee Park, the lead partner of Lee & Ko Customs Practice Group, commented that Lee & Ko “sincerely wishes that this seminar would be a beneficial reference point for customs and trade operations, for both domestic and global corporations”, and JW Cho voiced thoughts “to provide continuous updates for clients doing business in Korea, considering the ever-changing landscape of the Korean customs/FX/trade areas and pertinent KCS trends”.

On February 28, 2024, Law Times reported that Lee & Ko’s Pro Bono Committee delivered donations to four organizations such as “Heavenly Dream School”, an alternative school for North Korean defectors, “Together Goodwill Employment Support Center for North Korean Defectors” supporting North Korean defectors to settle in the society, “Open Door Youth Foundation”, a family community for children and youths abandoned due to abuse and “Myoungryun Orphanage”, a community living institution for children and youths. The donations delivered by Lee & Ko to these four organizations have been raised through the “Matching Grant Method” in which Lee & Ko Pro Bono Committee has additionally supported the same amount gained as the profits of “Lee & Ko Bazaar Sharing Love” hosted last year. 

On February 28, 2024, Edaily reported the successful completion of “Lee & Ko Friends” project, a program in which Lee & Ko attorneys and North Korean defector university students are matched one-on-one as a “Older Friend” and “Younger Friend”. The Lee & Ko Friends project, jointly run by Lee & Ko and social welfare foundation Together Goodwill’s employment support center for North Korean defectors, is a pro bono activity that helps North Korean defector university students to adapt as a healthy member of our society through daily meetings with Lee & Ko attorneys. Lee & Ko started the program as the first among domestic law firms in 2018 and completed its fourth term this year. As a successful pro bono activity model that grows and develops mutually beyond formal mentoring, the project is also leading to the participation of other law firms. 

Lee & Ko held a seminar in collaboration with the Department of Healthcare of the Korea In-House Counsel Association on 22 February 2024.

In the first session, Ms. Young Eun Son presented countermeasures against search and seizure based on her 25 years of experience as an expert in various fields related to criminal cases, including adjunct professor at the Ewha Womans University and University of Seoul Law School and assistant special prosecutor at the special prosecution on master sergeant Ye Ram Lee’s death. She explained in detail various matters that require particular attention based on the Criminal Procedure Act revised in 2011 and 2016 and the latest precedents related to search and seizure.

In the second session, Mr. Seung Ho Choi gave a presentation on “Responding to KFTC Dawn Raids.” Since 2012, he has used his vast experience in responding to KFTC dawn raids and conducting compliance projects to give presentations that help practitioners with important practical issues related to dawn raids.

In the third session, Mr. Yuseok Kim, a partner of Lee & Ko, presented "2023 M&A Trends in the Healthcare Market". He shared useful reports and analysis on 2023 M&A trends in the healthcare sector, predicted the recovery of the M&A market in 2024, and explained various legal issues that are important to consider in healthcare M&A transactions from the perspective of a healthcare M&A expert.

In the fourth session, Ms. Soo Yeon Oh gave a presentation on “The trend of Food Technology Regulations”. She shared overseas trends and current status of regulations on culture meat(cell culture food ingredients) and MediFood (special medical food) among the food tech business fields, and suggested future tasks and presented prospects from a healthcare expert perspective.

On January 23, 2024, Chosun Biz reported Lee & Ko’s pro bono activity. About 30 people, including employees and their families of Lee & Ko, participated in the volunteer work of “Bread of Love Sharing Center” at the Seongdong Bread Sharing Center of the Seoul branch of the Korean Red Cross on January 20. The volunteers made bread such as Bean Past Hotteok and Chestnut Muffin, and delivered it to undernourished neighbors in the community through the Korean Red Cross. Seok Pyo Hong, administrator of the Pro Bono Committee, said “We hope this bread, which is clumsy but made with all our heart, will be a little help to the neighbors who are on the verge of undernourishment”. 

December 20, 2023 – Safety News has reported that Lee & Ko and the Korea Safety Technology Association have entered into a serious accidents prevention MOU aimed at preventing serious accidents. The MOU ceremony took place on December 19th at the conference room of the Korea Safety Technology Association in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do. Through this MOU, the two organizations have committed to collaborating to ensure that safety values take precedence in government, businesses, and civil society, fostering a culture of safety.

Furthermore, the MOU outlines joint efforts to promote system improvements and the development of safety management systems to prevent serious accidents. The collaboration will involve information exchange, the exchange of human resources, and joint efforts in safety diagnosis, consulting, and education. The goal is to work together to enhance safety practices and contribute to preventing serious accidents in various sectors.