Korean Version

For more than 15 years, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP has provided strategic advice and innovative solutions to leading Korean companies, as well as to Western companies interested in doing business with Korea. With high-level contacts as well as a deep understanding of the business culture and global needs of Korean companies, our bilingual attorneys help clients capitalize on opportunities and successfully meet business and political challenges—in Korea, throughout Asia and around the world.

Our Services

Our Korea practice is defined by our strategic understanding of both the U.S. and the Korean market: the key players, complex business culture and global challenges. Our firm is defined by the full-service depth and breadth of our services, as well as by our global reach. Combine these two elements—direction and depth—and you have comprehensive legal representation that is consistent in vision and comprehensive in scope, across a wide range of practice areas:

• international trade, customs and export controls
• mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, private equity, real estate and capital markets
• international public policy
• litigation
• energy, infrastructure development and project finance
• entertainment and media, Hollywood films, product sponsorships and electronic games
• intellectual property.

Our lawyers have represented Korean companies on issues ranging from international trade and complex litigation to sophisticated corporate matters and international public policy issues. Our policy team understands the broader political and economic environments in both Korea and the United States as well as the U.S.-Korea relationship, with a long history of bringing companies and organizations together to deal with political and policy issues wherever they may arise. And with one of the world’s most comprehensive full-service project and infrastructure development practices, we are well-positioned to advise Korean companies involved in energy and infrastructure projects worldwide, including companies interested in entering the Iraqi market—helping to overcome all the policy, funding, legal and logistical hurdles such complex ventures entail.

Our Approach

Akin Gump lawyers take a world view—with global reach, global perspective, global resources. Our Korea practice lawyers in Washington, D.C., New York, Dallas, Los Angeles - Century City and Los Angeles - Downtown call upon their colleagues from more than 85 practices in offices worldwide, including San Francisco, Houston, London, Geneva and Moscow.

In addition, inroads we have made in understanding the Korean market and forging ties with some of Korea’s most important companies and leaders allow us to serve fully Western companies doing business in Korea, as well as Korean companies doing business around the world. We do this with enthusiasm, purpose and the spirit of partnership, uncompromising in our commitment to our clients and to their success.

Our Experience

One significant measure of Akin Gump’s experience is the diverse array of industries, related business matters, financial transactions and policy issues in which our lawyers have served U.S., Korean and other international companies.

Examples of our work include providing representation to—

• Korea’s largest electronics company in antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings
• a large Korean steel producer in antidumping duty proceedings involving various steel products
• Korean companies and their U.S. subsidiaries in obtaining advance pricing agreements with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and the Korean National Tax Service
• a major Korean financial institution in connection with its sale to a U.S. investment group
• the Korean Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO) in connection with numerous transactions, including the sale of $1 billion of nonperforming assets to two corporate restructuring companies and a $1.3 billion nonperforming loan sale
• an American investment bank in connection with the global issuance of ADRs in a Korean telecommunications company
• an international media content and delivery company in helping to establish a G-8 taskforce to stem the global digital divide
• a leading U.S. pharmaceutical company seeking to improve the relationship of the infant formula industry with the World Health Organization
• a major Korean electronics company in defending against a class action involving consumer rebates
• a large Korean automaker in defending against claims of civil antitrust, wrongful termination and unfair business practices
• a Korean petrochemical company in a major antitrust arbitration in the International Chamber of Commerce
• lenders on a superhighway project in Guangdong Province, China
• a pipeline development consortium in the largest pipeline development project of the post-Soviet era in Russia, for which we facilitated a $2 billion investment involving three governments and eight private or publicly owned companies
• an international consortium that owns, financed and distributed a Hollywood adventure film, based on a popular video game, worldwide
• one of the two largest distributors of electronic games in branding and sponsorship agreements on an ongoing basis.

A Firm Commitment

Today, Korean companies need the guidance, insight and assistance of a leading international law firm—one that consistently delivers comprehensive and effective services to clients around the globe. Similarly, Western companies seeking to participate in Korea’s dynamic development need seasoned advisors to help navigate Korea’s business, political and regulatory landscape. With a deep understanding of Korea’s business culture, bilingual attorneys, high-level contacts, global firm resources and wide-ranging experience with Korean and Western companies, Akin Gump is committed to helping clients overcome the global challenges and achieve business success—from Seoul to New York, and around the world.