KOCIA - KICA Joint Seminar (Virtual)

<img src="https://kica.bar/static/áá³áá³ááµá«áá£áº 2023-01-26 áá©áá® 7.32.25.png">According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, South Korea’s outbound investment in 2021 increased 32.8% from the previous year to a record high USD75.9 billion. Regardless of the unprecedented pandemic that began in 2019, South Korean firms’ foreign direct investment (FDI) is continually increasing. The country’s outbound FDI in 2021 was more than double the USD29.5 billion inbound investment into the country the same year.Because of a dramatic decrease in birth rates and the inevitable population cliff, South Korean firms will strive to broaden their reach to foreign countries. Consequently, FDI will become more and more important.US President Joe Biden chose the Samsung chip complex in Suwon city as his first stop when he visited South Korea in May this year. Samsung is scheduled to invest USD17 billion in Texas to build a new chip fabrication plant. Hyundai also pledged at least USD10 billion in investment in the US for electric vehicles, batteries and related technology. Another conglomerate, SK, paid USD410 million to buy a stake in a Vietnamese conglomerate and is going to invest USD52 billion in the US by 2030. These investment plans showcase how robustly South Korean companies are planning to increase FDI.It is a great honour to write a foreword yet again for the Korea Outbound Investment Guide 2022 edition. I am also very pleased to see that Asia Business Law Journal is unwaveringly committed to helping the FDI of South Korean companies.It is remarkable that Asia Business Law Journal is about to update the Korea Outbound Investment Guide in collaboration with prestigious law firms around the world to keep pace with the recent environmental changes in FDI. Many South Korean companies have been eager to have legal guidance to help them make sound and well-informed decisions on their investments. I sincerely wish that this guide will play the role of a compass for these firms and contribute to the prosperity of not only Korean companies investing abroad but also the countries that receive FDI from these companies.

Korea Outbound Investment Guide – Foreword

<img src="https://kica.bar/static/áá³áá³ááµá«áá£áº 2023-01-26 áá©áá® 7.31.20.png">After being suspended for three years, the Korea In-house Counsel Association (KICA) and the Seoul Bar Association co-hosted an in-house counsel mentoring programme on 29 June at the Seoul Bar Association building. About 80 newly admitted lawyers attended the programme as mentees to garner an insight into in-house careers.“Through this programme, mentees are able to gain the knowledge of mentors’ insights,” said Kim Sunghan, the KICA president. “I hope to hold this meaningful chance for young lawyers once more this year.”The head of the KICA’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) division and former president, Lee Wan-keun, delivered a lecture on how to establish relationships in business, the importance of reports and communication.The programme consisted of different sections, offering opportunities for mentees to be acquainted with lawyers specialising in various industries and to observe the work of successful mentors up close.

KICA resumes mentoring programme for new lawyers

<img src="https://kica.bar/static/áá³áá³ááµá«áá£áº 2023-01-26 áá©áá® 7.30.17.png">The Korea In-house Counsel Association (KICA) has moved into a new office in Seoul at 5 Yeongdong-daero 141-gil, Gangnam-gu, from its previous address at the Lawyers’ Education and Culture Centre.With the lease expiring in April, KICA saw an opportunity to relocate the office closer to its board of directors.“Since we moved the office, we can more focus on enhancing KICA’s capability and expertise,” association president Kim Sunghan told Asia Business Law Journal. “Due to Covid-19 restrictions, we hadn’t been able to manage many events and programmes as much as we’ve wanted.”Kim said that since South Korea started easing most Covid restrictions from May, the association had been planning multiple events for members.Board members including Kim, head of the ESG (environmental, social and governance) division Lee Wan Keun, deputy secretary-general Ryu Yungyo and executive secretary Kim Beomsu were among those attending an opening ceremony for the new office.

KICA moves office

<img src="https://kica.bar/static/áá³áá³ááµá«áá£áº 2023-01-26 áá©áá® 7.29.18.png">The Korea In-house Counsel Association (KICA) held its annual general meeting on 19 January and elected Kim Sunghan, head of management office at Golfzon Newdin Holdings, as its new chairman and president. Kim ran as the sole candidate and succeeded Lee Wan-keun, who had served two terms.“I want to help lawyers who want to be in-house lawyers through the Korea In-house Counsel Association,” said Kim. “We will study various cases of in-house lawyers, and help lawyers who are interested in expanding their fields. We will set goals that can be achieved one by one to build a good association.”Kim passed the bar examination in 2001 and joined golf simulator operator Golfzon in 2014, after working as an attorney at Seojeong law firm in Seoul for more than seven years. His easy personality and excellent leadership have been regarded as a role model for in-house lawyers.During the general meeting, Lee, as outgoing chairman, also shared the progress of the association’s projects, and its audit results.“Last year, the number of members increased to 2,291 and more than 30 business agreements were signed, and the process of strengthening the capacity of in-house lawyers was successful,” said Lee.<img src="https://kica.bar/static/áá³áá³ááµá«áá£áº 2023-01-26 áá©áá® 7.29.40.png">

KICA elects new chairman

<img src="https://kica.bar/static/áá³áá³ááµá«áá£áº 2023-01-26 áá©áá® 7.28.25.png">The Korea In-house Counsel Association (KICA) celebrated its 10th anniversary on 2 November, and to commemorate this milestone published a digital book providing a glimpse into the growth of domestic in-house lawyers in the country.The celebration was held online to prevent the spread of covid-19. “The past decade is a time when in-house lawyers, who were relatively unfamiliar jobs in Korea, have grown into businesses and legal circles in earnest,” the KICA president, Lee Wan-keun, told Asia Business Law Journal.“When the KICA was established, the number of lawyers working for companies and public institutions was estimated to be only hundreds, and it has reached 20% of registered lawyers of the Korean Bar Association, and is still growing rapidly.” Lee said that lawyers’ areas and roles in companies had also continued to expand. Meanwhile in-house counsel have firmly established themselves as an important partner in business within companies, and as one of the major positions in the legal profession.“In this process, the KICA has worked hard to share various experiences and insights as an in-house legal expert, and tried to present an accurate role model of in-house lawyers who contribute to society beyond the company and legal circles,” said Lee.“In addition, I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to various sponsoring corporations and co-operative organisations who have always supported the KICA with affection, and sent congratulations to our association despite their busy schedule.”The digital book, titled The 10th Anniversary Celebration Book, explains the history of the KICA and its activities in supporting the development of in-house counsel, as well as remarks from past presidents.

KICA celebrates 10th anniversary

<img src="https://kica.bar/static/ESG-green-investment-696x464.jpg">As environmental, social and governance-related (ESG) investment and projects gain momentum worldwide, the two largest in-house counsel associations in Korea – the Korean In-house Counsel Association (KICA) and the In-house Counsel Forum (IHCF) – have joined forces to organise four webinars in September, which deal with ESG-related regulations and legal disputes, as well as countermeasures for companies.“While CSR focuses on ethical and compliant corporate behaviour, ESG initiatives more robustly focus on finding business opportunities to proactively enhance corporate value, social contributions and making sustainable governance structure,” Chae Jooyup, vice president of the KICA, told Asia Business Law Journal.“Korean companies are well aware that they cannot survive under rapid environmental changes such as climate changes and pandemics if they don’t change proactively,” said Chae. “That’s why they are investing in ESG robustly in recent years.”The webinar was opened on 2 September by Kim Min-seok, director of the Sustainability Research Institute, who presented an overview of the cause of significant trends in ESG-related projects. Yoon Yong-hee, a partner at Korean law firm Yulchon, followed with a presentation analysing ESG-related government policy and some standards that companies should follow.In the second webinar on 9 September, head of the National Pension Service, Lee Dong-seop, introduced the tasks of the country’s public pension fund in ESG-related projects. Choi Min-yeon, CEO of asset management company BlackRock Korea, talked about sustainable investment from an investor’s perspective, while Choi Soo-bin, a lawyer from the Korea Exchange, discussed ESG-related disclosure.On 16 September, Seol Tong-keun, a partner at Korean firm <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://law.asia/directory/korea/lee-and-ko/">Lee &amp; Ko</a>, spoke about environmental risk management in ESG. Lee Yoon-jeong, a partner at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://law.asia/directory/korea/kim-chang/">Kim &amp; Chang</a>, discussed legal issues and dispute cases surrounding carbon neutrality, while his colleague, Oh Min-young, presented the topic of energy transformation related to ESG.The final webinar on 23 September began with Lee Jun-hee, the head of the ESG centre strategic group at Korean law firm Jipyong, who explored ESG management and compliance, while law professor of Kookmin University in Seoul, Nam Yu-sun, discussed the current status of ESG in Korean financial companies. Finally, Kim Won-jin, a lawyer at Yulchon, analysed ESG-related dispute cases.