K&L Gates and O’Melveny & Myers have received final approval from the Korean Ministry of Justice to open an office in Seoul.
Jinwon Park and Sungyong Kang will head O’Melveny & Myers’ Seoul office, and will work closely with partner Joseph Kim in Los Angeles. The firm advises Korean clients on antitrust and patent litigation, and has notched up several recent high-profile victories in the U.S.
The Seoul office will be O’Melveny’s 16th worldwide and seventh in Asia, along with Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore and Jakarta (where it operates in association with Indonesian law firm Tumbuan & Partners).
Meanwhile, the launch of K&L Gates’ Seoul office will mark its 42nd worldwide and seventh in Asia. The firm’s office is pending registration with the Korean Bar Association, and will be formally opened in January 2013.
The office will be headed by New York partner Eric Yoon, who specialises in M&A, private equity, financing and financial services regulation.
“We are truly excited to expand our global platform in this way,” said K&L Gates Asia managing partner, David Tang, in a statement. “Korea is one of the few countries in the world that possesses both widely distributed wealth (in the form of a high per capita GDP) and a large, well-educated population base. We look forward to utilising our Seoul office as a portal to facilitate the continuing growth and globalisation of Korea’s economy.”
The entry of international firms:
Law Firm Country Korea Office Head Focus Areas Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton* U.S. Yong Guk Lee, Jay Hoon Choi Corporate, Finance, Regulatory, Litigation, Arbitration Clifford Chance* UK Brian Cassidy, Hyun Kim Capital Markets, M&A, Banking and Finance, Project Finance, Arbitration Cohen & Gresser* U.S. S.C. Sohn M&A, PE, Capital Markets, IP, Dispute Resolution Covington & Burling U.S. William Park, Daniel Spiegel Corporate, Banking and Finance, Antitrust, IP, Litigation DLA Piper UK N/A N/A Han & Associates U.S. N/A N/A H.C. Park & Associates U.S. N/A N/A Herbert Smith Freehills UK Tony Dymond N/A K&L Gates* U.S. Eric Yoon M&A, PE, Corporate, Finance McDermott Will & Emery* U.S. In-Young Lee M&A, Finance, Antitrust, Restructuring, International Trade, IP, Litigation McKenna Long & Aldridge U.S. Andrew Park N/A O’Melveny & Myers* U.S. Sungyong Kang, Jinwon Park Corporate M&A, Antitrust, International Trade, Litigation Paul Hastings* U.S. Jong Han Kim, Daniel Kim PE, M&A, Project Finance, Capital Markets, Litigation Ropes & Gray* U.S. William Yongkyun Kim Corporate, IP, Business Litigation, Arbitration Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton* U.S. Seth Byoung Soo Kim Corporate, Finance, Antitrust, IP, Entertainment Simpson Thacher & Bartlett* U.S. Youngjin Sohn M&A, Capital Markets, PE, Antitrust, IP, Litigation Squire Sanders* U.S. Joon Yong Kim N/A
*Firm has received approval from the Korean Ministry of Justice
Kanishk Verghese is North Asia journalist at ALB. Follow us on Twitter: @ALB_Magazine.
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