YOON&YANG

Yoon & Yang’s 7 lawyers have been recognized on the list of “Korea’s Top Lawyers (A-List)” 2024 edition published by Asia Business Law Journal. This prestigious list highlights 100 outstanding lawyers from law firms through extensive market research and feedback from in-house counsels and lawyers at international law firms. The lawyers recognized in the 2024 edition are as follows: [Legal Icon]∙ Hoil Yoon [Korea’s top lawyers]∙ Myung Soo Lee∙ Seung Soon Lim∙ Sang Hoon Park∙ Myung-Ahn Kim∙ Sam Kim∙ SB(Suakbuam) Hong  Published by Vantage Asia, Asia Business Law Journal is a leading bimonthly legal publication targeting in-house counsel and law firm practitioners across the Asia-Pacific region. The full list of Korea’s Top Lawyers (A-List) 2024 can be found at the following link.The A-List: Korea's Top Lawyers 2024 | Law.asia 

On the first day of Seoul Arbitration Festival 2024, law firms Yoon&Yang, 39 Essex Chambers, and Al Tamimi & Company hosted a panel discussion titled ‘New and Renewable Energy Landscape in Korea and Beyond—Current Issues in Project Development and Dispute Resolution.’

Junsang Lee, a managing partner at Yoon & Yang in Seoul, says: "We advise our clients to conduct preliminary research and analysis to determine the premissibility of economic activities before engaging in them."

Jong-moon Choi, Senior Advisor at Yoon & Yang LLC will moderate the “Alliance after US Election 2024: A Seoul Perspective” seminar on November 13, 2024 at the National Assembly Museum. The event is co-hosted by The Korea Herald, the Plaza Project, and the Bipartisan Forum for Advanced Diplomacy. In the first session, “Regional Security After the US Presidential Election”, Choi will moderate a discussion on the implications of the US election outcome for regional security and foreign policy, guiding expert panelists as they explore strategic responses to the evolving security landscape. Prior to joining Yoon & Yang in 2023, Jong-moon Choi served as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs in South Korea. Alliance after US Election 2024: A Seoul Perspective

Myung-Ahn Kim, a Senior Foreign Attorney and a Head of the firm’s international arbitration litigation team, has been recognized as one of the "ASIA SUPER 50 DISPUTES LAWYERS 2024" by the Asian Legal Business (ALB), a renowned legal magazine in Asia-Pacific region. "ASIA SUPER 50 DISPUTES LAWYERS 2024" is a list of 50 lawyers in the field of litigations and international arbitrations who currently practice in Asia. Based on more than 600 recommendations by in-house counsels, ALB chose talented 50 private practitioners through the two months of research.  In particular, this year only three lawyers including Myung-Ahn Kim were selected from Korea. Myung-Ahn Kim is a leading international arbitration expert based in South Korea who has won various international arbitration cases and subsequent enforcement procedures. She has been constantly selected as a leading lawyer in the field of international arbitration by the prestigious legal directory such as Chambers & Partners and Legal 500. She is currently serving as a Member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR and a Chair of the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB)’s Women's Interest Committee. ASIA SUPER 50 Disputes Lawyers 2024

Hyeongjoon David Choi, a partner and senior foreign attorney at Yoon & Yang in Seoul says “Institutional investors and activist funds are increasingly becoming more active in Korean companies following the introduction of the Stewardship Code and the amendments to the KCC in 2020 in respect of the separate appointment of a director serving as an audit committee member.”

Yoon & Yang will co-host webinar with International Contractors Association of Korea (ICAK) on risk management of construction projects in the Middle East.

On June 29, 2022, Yoon & Yang hosted a webinar examining the practical aspects of construction arbitration under the subject of “Do’s and Don’ts in Construction Arbitration."

Yoon & Yang LLC will participate in In-House Community e-Congress Vietnam 2020 as speakers of the workshop session and a panelist of the panel discussion session.

Yoon & Yang LLC successfully advised POSCO Plantec, a financially troubled POSCO affiliate, on its turnaround through M&A. POSCO Plantec, a Korean industrial machinery manufacturer, commenced its restructuring program in June 2015 while it was under the supervision of creditor banks including Korea Development Bank. However, after implementing intensive restructuring programs, the company selected United Asset Management Company (UAMCO) as a preferred bidder to purchase the company in late 2019. POSCO Plantec issued new shares to creditors through debt-to-equity conversion and also issued additional new shares to UAMCO in March 2020. POSCO Plantec was able to improve its financial structure through such transactions and finally emerged out of the restructuring program in June 2020. Yoon & Yang advised POSCO Plantec on all aspects of the transactions including the selection of preferred bidder, the paid-in capital increase for third-party allocation by issuing new shares, the debt-to-equity conversion, and the capital reduction without refund. In particular, Yoon & Yang advised POSCO Plantec with respect to bidding process, structure of transactions, contract drafting and negotiation, and closing. Yoon & Yang has a long track record of advising on distressed company M&A transactions. In 2011, the firm successfully advised Woori Financial Group on its acquisition of Samhwa Mutual Savings Bank after Samhwa went bankrupt because of financial troubles. 

From 2019 to 2020, Yoon & Yang LLC successfully represented United Technologies Corporation, the world’s largest aerospace equipment supplier, in the KFTC’s merger review investigation into its acquisition of Raytheon Company, the world’s top manufacturer of guided missiles and missile defense systems, which resulted in KFTC’s unconditional approval on March 11, 2020.  Subsequently, on April 3, 2020, the transaction was closed for about USD 52,000,000,000, which is the largest M&A in the aerospace and defense industry.  With this transaction, the new merged company changed its name to Raytheon Technologies Corporation, which became the second-largest aerospace and defense company in the world, and spun off its major businesses, Otis Elevator and Carrier.

Gwangju Metropolitan City and Hyundai Motor Company signed a joint venture deal to establish an automobile manufacturing company, Gwangju Global Motors in Gwangju, Korea to vitalize local economy and to create local jobs.   Yoon & Yang provided comprehensive legal services for Gwangju Metropolitan City and Hyundai Motor Company in connection with the joint venture establishment, including preparation of relevant agreements (i.e., articles of corporation and shareholders agreement), negotiation with the investors, administrative procedure for establishment of joint venture, and preparation for closing.   The total investment of the project is KRW 211 billion (USD 177 million) and the establishment of the joint venture has been successfully closed on September 20, 2019.   This case is significant in that it is the public-private joint venture case, in which the local government (Gwangju Metropolitan City) and the global automaker in South Korea (Hyundai Motor Company) established and operated a joint venture. In addition, it is meaningful in that the project was aimed at boosting the local economy and job creation.