Barun Law Firm (led by attorneys Lee Dong-hoon, Lee Young-hee, and Kim Do-hyung) announced on July 14 that it has recruited attorneys Shin Hyun-sik (27th Judicial Research and Training Institute), Tae Ji-young (28th), Park Chan-woo (42nd), criminal attorney Shin Eun-cheol (12th Bar Exam), foreign attorney Kim Jeong-gyeom, and industry safety expert Yang Yong-gu (Ph.D. in Safety Engineering).
Shin is a corporate transaction expert with over 25 years of experience in domestic and international mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity (PE), corporate restructuring, real estate and infrastructure investment, and corporate governance and compliance. He spent nearly 18 years at Sejong, advising major domestic and international companies and global institutional investors on various large transactions. He later joined DL Group, where he served as Chief Risk Officer (CRO), General Counsel, and head of compliance management, overseeing the group’s investment decisions, global cross-border M&A, and business portfolio restructuring before joining Barun.
Shin has managed significant transactions, including the acquisition of Kraton Corporation, a U.S. NYSE-listed company (approximately 3 trillion won), the global carve-out acquisition of the Cariflex business unit, and the transition to a holding company structure for DL Group. He has also advised global institutional investors such as GIC, Blackstone, LaSalle, and Macquarie Asset Management on investments in office, logistics, and infrastructure assets. With his diverse practical experience as an external counsel and in-house legal counsel for large corporations, he aims to provide effective solutions throughout the corporate transaction process.
Tae specializes in corporate criminal law, employee investigation responses, labor criminal law, and human resources and labor advisory. From 1999 to 2004, he served as a prosecutor, handling investigations and prosecutions in general criminal, fair trade, election, and labor criminal cases. He has since built his advisory capabilities on corporate criminal risks and human resources and labor issues through his work at law firms such as Chungjeong, Dongin, and Kwangjang.
Notably, Tae has handled numerous cases involving police and prosecutor investigations of corporate employees, workplace harassment investigations and disciplinary advice, internal corporate investigations, compliance advisory, and responses to labor department investigations and special labor inspections related to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Recognized for his expertise in human resources and labor, particularly in disciplinary matters, Tae has served on various committees, including the Personnel Innovation Office’s Appeals Committee, the Central Disciplinary Committee, the Seoul City Appeals Committee, the Korean Bar Association’s Disciplinary Committee, and the KBS Special Disciplinary Committee. He is currently appointed as an external member of the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s General Disciplinary Committee and the Labor Attorney Qualification Review and Disciplinary Committee, as well as the Seoul City’s First Personnel Committee.
Additionally, he has been active in various fields as a legal advisor for the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, a member of the Legislative Affairs Office’s Legal Interpretation Review Committee, a member of the Ministry of Justice’s Bar Exam Question and Grading Committee, and the Vice President of the Korean Women Lawyers Association.
Park is an expert in intellectual property and technology, specializing in patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyright disputes. He is also a licensed patent attorney. A graduate of Seoul National University’s Department of Computer Engineering, Park has experience as an engineer at an IT company and as a patent attorney in the electrical and electronics field. After completing the 42nd Judicial Research and Training Institute in 2013, he joined Barun after working at Kwangjang.
Park has handled key disputes in technology-intensive industries, including a patent infringement lawsuit against a U.S. company representing the largest domestic smartphone manufacturer, a patent infringement lawsuit related to game services representing a comprehensive internet portal company, and patent and trade secret infringement cases involving directional electrical steel plate manufacturing technology for a global steel company (in the U.S., Japan, and Korea). With his background as an engineer, patent attorney, and lawyer, Park is expected to leverage his deep understanding of technology and practical experience to excel in intellectual property dispute resolution and related advisory.
Foreign attorney Kim Jeong-gyeom has over 25 years of experience in insurance and reinsurance disputes, regulatory responses, M&A, and public affairs, including advising on compensation scope for excess reinsurers under package insurance related to the explosion at Lotte Chemical and LG Chem’s Daesan plant, in collaboration with a Singapore firm. He has led the insurance and reinsurance sector at Kim & Chang, Kwangjang, and Sejong, and before joining Barun, he served as the head of the insurance and reinsurance team at Dentons Lee. His expertise has been recognized externally through rankings by Chambers and Partners in the insurance sector and selection as one of the 'Top 100 Lawyers in Korea' by ABLJ.
Yang Yong-gu is a practical expert in serious accident risk response with over 30 years of experience in the industrial safety field. Since 1994, he has held various positions at the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA), including Director of the Management Education Center, Head of the Specialized Accident Investigation Center, and Head of the Construction Health Department. As a Ph.D. in Safety Engineering and a certified industrial safety consultant (construction safety), Yang has diagnosed legal risks for employers related to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act, providing preventive solutions. He has also participated in audits of safety and health management systems for construction companies and public institutions as a KOSHA-MS and ISO 45001 auditor and has been involved in serious accident investigations. At Barun’s Serious Accident Response Center, he will provide practical technical defense strategies for CEOs in the event of serious accidents.
Shin Eun-cheol is a criminal defense attorney specializing in general and corporate criminal law, police investigation responses, and anti-corruption and financial economic crimes. After graduating from the Police University with a degree in Public Administration, he gained practical experience in frontline investigations, including in the Economic Crime Investigation Team, before joining Barun after working at Dongin.
Kim Do-hyung, the representative attorney of Barun, stated, “With this recruitment, we have significantly strengthened our advisory capabilities in M&A, corporate transactions, intellectual property, corporate criminal law, and corporate compliance. Additionally, by adding top experts in the industrial safety field, we can provide differentiated solutions that encompass both legal and technical aspects in response to increasingly important serious accidents. Barun will continue to recruit verified experts in each specialized area to offer professional and differentiated advisory services to our clients.”
Founded in 1998, Barun Law Firm is one of South Korea's top eight large law firms, renowned for its strength in litigation. It currently employs approximately 300 attorneys and provides comprehensive legal services across various fields, including corporate advisory, fair trade, governance risk, M&A, inheritance, and asset management (Barun EP Center).
* This article has been translated by AI.
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