[Invest&Law] "Beyond Simple Responses to Economic Analysis"... The Eight Major Law Firms Upgrade Their Fair Trade Teams

Strengthening Response Capabilities Amid Growing Attention to AI and Platform Regulation by the Fair Trade Commission

As the Korea Fair Trade Commission expands its regulatory scope to cover the digital economy as a whole—including strengthening monitoring of the artificial intelligence (AI) and platform industries—corporate demand for fair trade legal services is increasing. In response, the nation’s eight leading large law firms are expanding and upgrading their fair trade case response teams.

According to the legal community on April 8, Kim & Chang operates the largest fair trade case response team in Korea. Led by attorneys Youngjin Jung (Judicial Research and Training Institute, 22nd class) and Jino Kim (26th class), the Fair Trade Group consists of over 150 professionals, including lawyers, accountants, economists with PhDs, and industry experts. The firm runs its own economic analysis and digital forensics teams, demonstrating strengths in on-site investigations by the Fair Trade Commission. The group also collaborates with sector-specific teams in technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT), platform, finance, and healthcare. Kim & Chang previously secured a Supreme Court victory in a case seeking to overturn the Fair Trade Commission’s penalty regarding Naver’s preferential treatment in its shopping search algorithm.

Bae, Kim & Lee (BAE, KIM & LEE LLC) has assigned around 70 professionals to its Fair Trade Group, led by attorney Hongki Kim (32nd class). The firm is notable for launching the country’s first ‘Center for Law and Economics (CLE)’ in 2021. The CLE is headed by advisor Dongjun Shin, formerly of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ), and handles cartel, merger, and abuse of market dominance cases. Responding to the trend of fair trade cases evolving into criminal matters, Bae, Kim & Lee also operates a Fair Trade Criminal Response Center. The firm handled cases such as CJ Olive Young’s abuse of market dominance and violation of the Large-Scale Distribution Business Act, as well as an investigation into Yanolja’s abuse of transactional position.

At Shin & Kim, foreign attorney Joonghyuk Choi and attorney Hansoon Choi (27th class) jointly lead a Fair Trade Group of around 80 members. The team includes attorney Changhoon Lee (33rd class), recognized as a Chambers Leading Lawyer, and Sangdon Lee (33rd class), one of Korea’s top experts on business combinations, as well as attorney Choi, a former judge in the Fair Trade Division of the Seoul High Court. Attorney Geunbae Suk (34th class) is in charge of fair trade training. Representing Asiana Airlines in its merger with Korean Air, Shin & Kim won the GCR Asia-Pacific Merger Control Matter of the Year award.

Lee & Ko operates a 67-member Fair Trade Group led by attorneys Hwan Jeong (24th class) and Sungho Seon (37th class) as co-heads. In 2015, the firm became the first Korean law firm to establish the CECG (Competition Economics Consulting Group), providing in-house economic analysis services. The litigation team is led by attorney Sujin Jung (32nd class), a former judge in the Fair Trade Division of the Seoul High Court, while the fair trade criminal team is headed by attorney Hugon Kim (25th class), a former chief prosecutor at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office. Lee & Ko achieved a no-violation ruling in the Apple-Samsung abuse of market dominance case.

Yulchon’s Fair Trade Group, with around 70 members, is led by attorney Jungkeun Yoon (26th class). The organization is characterized by its specialized teams for each industry, including mergers, cartels, subcontracting, platforms, AI, aviation, and logistics. Yulchon handled the Synopsys-Ansys merger, valued at about 35 billion dollars, and received the GCR Award for Asia-Pacific Merger Control Matter of the Year in 2026. It is the only Korean law firm to be named for 24 consecutive years in the GCR’s 'Global 100 Leading Competition Law Firms' in the highest category.

Hwawoo runs its Fair Trade Group, led by attorney Sangoh Jeon (34th class), with more than 50 professionals including advisors, partners, and specialists. Key members include advisor Youngho Shin, a former standing commissioner of the Fair Trade Commission, and attorney Geumseok Oh (18th class), an expert in fair trade investigation response. Hwawoo has been named a GCR 'Elite Firm' for 18 consecutive years and is distinguished for its focus on competition law. The firm achieved partial annulment of penalties in the Qualcomm abuse of market dominance case.

YK Law builds its Fair Trade Group around former Supreme Court Justice Soonil Kwon (14th class) and specialists in fair trade and criminal law. The firm is known for its personnel from the Fair Trade Commission and the prosecution, as well as its ability to respond closely on-site through 30 directly managed branch offices. The structure enables YK Law to handle large-scale and on-site matters simultaneously. Representing 94 franchise owners in a lawsuit against Korea Pizza Hut, the firm secured a Supreme Court ruling ordering the return of KRW 21.5 billion in overcharged franchise fees, setting a new precedent in franchise business law.

Jipyong operates a Fair Trade Group of about 30 members, led by managing partner Jihong Kim (27th class) and group head Byungjoo Lee (34th class). The firm handled both the Naver Shopping and Kakao Mobility algorithm self-preferencing cases. Jipyong’s team includes attorneys such as Donga Kim (24th class), a former non-standing commissioner of the Fair Trade Commission, and Sangyoon Kim (36th class), former head of the Fair Trade Commission’s Internal Transaction Monitoring Division, bringing extensive experience within the agency. Jipyong achieved a complete victory in an administrative lawsuit overturning the Fair Trade Commission’s imposition of a penalty for abuse of market dominance related to the Kakao Mobility dispatch algorithm.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.