Recent Developments

Lee & Ko and Debevoise & Plimpton jointly held a seminar titled ‘Global Reach of EU, U.S. and UK sanctions Against Russia’ on September 7, 2023.

During the seminar, Robert Dura from Debevoise & Plimpton delivered a presentation focused on U.S. sanctions and export controls, while Konstantin Bureiko provided insights into EU and UK sanctions and export controls. Tony Dymond discussed cases involving conflicts arising from the intersection of sanctions/export controls and contractual obligations. 

Jungmin Pak from Lee & Ko shed light on the implications of U.S. sanctions and export controls for Korean companies, emphasizing the specific risks to which Korean companies are particularly exposed. Following the presentation, there was a vibrant discussion among the participating lawyers on best practices for screening, the significance of sanctions clauses in disputes, and the risks of sanctions circumvention transactions.

On September 11, 2023, Herald Economy reported that Lee & Ko will hold a “Forum for Response to Supply Chain Due Diligence – Focusing on Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence” on September 18 with the Federation of Korean Industries and the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. In the forum, which consists of a total of three sessions, Se-ryeon Song, chairman of the Human Rights Governance Forum of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, will be the first to present under the theme of “Introduction and Implications of Domestic Supply Chain Due Diligence Legislation”. Jeong-joo Yoo, head of the corporate policy team at the Federation of Korean Industries, will then present the “Problems of Supply Chain Due Diligence Legislation” and Tong-geun Seol, an attorney at Lee & Ko, will present the “Establishment of Supply Chain Due Diligence System and Corporate Countermeasures”. 

On 8 September 2023, Money Today reported the news of Lee & Ko’s seminar held in collaboration with the Korean In-House Lawyers Labor Academic Committee on 7th September. During this seminar, Lee & Ko attorney Seung-wan Hahm presented on “Understanding Industrial Action under Labor Union Law,” while Lee & Ko attorney Young-jin Kim discussed “Understanding Legal Issues in Claims for Damages related to Unlawful Labor Union Actions.” Further, Lee & Ko attorney Chang-soo Jin, the head of Lee & Ko’s Employment & Labor Practice Group, commented that he felt “deepening one’s understanding of industrial actions and recent Supreme Court rulings on damages related to such actions will greatly benefit in-house lawyers dealing with corporate legal and labor matters.”

On 25 August 2023, Lee & Ko held the "Industrial Relations Response Seminar in the Second Half of 2023" at the International Conference Room of the Bank Hall.

This hybrid seminar/webinar featured prominent keynote speakers equipped with both experience and expertise – namely, Prof. Hwa Jin Park (a visiting professor at Wonkwang University and former Deputy Minister at Ministry of Employment and Labor/Director of Industrial Safety Bureau) and Mr. Young Jin Kim (currently a senior partner at Lee & Ko and a former judicial researcher at Korean Supreme Court and presiding judge) – to analyze the case studies and implications of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (SAPA) and recent Supreme Court's rulings on labor cases.

Prof. Park presented in the first session of the seminar, during which he covered the legislative structure of the SAPA and discussed the investigation practice against SAPA offenses (under the heading of “Case Studies and Discussion Points for SAPA” and reviewed key topics that companies are advised to pay attention to or prepare for based on the takeaways from actual SAPA cases.

Thereafter, Mr. Young Jin Kim presented in the second session during which he introduced the Supreme Court’s major rulings over the past two (2) years (under the heading of “Recent Supreme Court's Position and Future Prospects on Labor Cases") and the future prospect on key topics in the employment landscape. These include: the ripeness of wage claims, annual leave entitlements, wage peak system, the effect of personnel orders, the “imminent business necessity” requirement (for statutory layoff), unfavorable changes in employment rules, the relationship between individual employment contracts and employment rules, doctrine of “reasonable expectation” in labor relations, dispatch employment practice, industrial actions and compensation.

On August 18, 2023, Lee & Ko’s Customs Practice Group held a seminar on ‘Amended Legislations for Customs, Foreign Trade and Foreign Exchange Transactions’.

In the first session, Jae Wung CHO, partner of the Customs Practice Group, introduced key amendments to the Customs Act and the Foreign Trade Act. He also covered customs-related legislation proposals that are expected to take effect next year, discussing businesswise important implications to mitigate import and export concerns.

In the second session, attorney Vin MA explained recent amendments to the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act and Regulation. He emphasized Korea Customs Service (KCS) is expected to undergo substantial changes in its regulatory practice in accordance with the "Plan to Reform the Foreign Exchange Transaction Regulations" announced on February 10, 2023.

In the third session, customs advisor Seung Hak SHIN shared valuable insights of core audit and investigation areas that KCS is likely to scrutinize. Furthermore, he shared flexible ideas to manage audit and investigation and to enhance compliance systems.

On July 27, 2023, the Aju Business Daily reported a significant collaboration between Lee & Ko and the Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities (KEAD) to promote employment opportunities for persons with serious disabilities. By signing a Memorandum of Understanding, Lee & Ko plans to provide opportunities for promotion of employment of individuals with serious disabilities and strive to achieve mandatory employment, whereas the KEAD will suggest an employment model by analyzing tasks suitable for people with disabilities and provide multilateral employment services such as recruitment agency assistance and vocational training. In relation to the firm’s collaboration, Sang Gon Kim, an attorney and executive managing director at Lee & Ko, noted, “we will continue to dedicate to realize social values and promote environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) by expanding employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.”