Yoon & Yang LLC (Managing Partner Lee Myung-soo) announced on the 30th that it has recruited international tax experts Foreign Attorney Shim Jae-jin, Attorney Ryu Sung-hyun, and Attorney Lee Hwan-gu as partners.
Foreign Attorney Shim Jae-jin has over 35 years of experience providing tax advisory and litigation for domestic and foreign multinational corporations at global law firms and accounting firms.
Foreign Attorney Shim graduated from Hampshire College in the United States, then obtained a Juris Master from Boston College Law School and a master's degree in tax law from Boston University Law School. After obtaining his attorney licenses in Massachusetts and New York, he joined PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Arthur Andersen, where he established the international tax practice group at Yulchon.
After working at Kim & Chang Law Office, he established the international tax team at Lee & Ko and has been responsible for comprehensive advisory and litigation on a range of international tax issues, including global tax structure design, transfer pricing, tax treaty interpretation, and private equity tax restructuring, serving as the head of the tax co-group for 10 years.
Foreign Attorney Shim also served as co-chairman of the tax committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AmCham Korea) for over 20 years. He currently speaks at the International Bar Association (IBA), the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA), and the International Fiscal Association (IFA).
Attorney Ryu Sung-hyun (33rd Judicial Research and Training Institute) graduated from Seoul National University Law School and completed graduate school at Seoul National University before obtaining a master's degree in law from Duke University in the United States. He led and directly handled over 1,000 tax dispute cases as a Deputy Director at the National Tax Service in 2009. In 2011, he received an award from the Commissioner of the National Tax Service for his role in winning major cases, such as the case involving the fraudulent refund of value-added taxes amounting to billions of won.
Since moving to Lee & Ko, Attorney Ryu has managed numerous high-profile tax litigations for over 10 years. He achieved a landmark victory when the Supreme Court recognized an Irish corporation as the beneficial owner of patent royalties, making it a groundbreaking case in Korea. Attorney Ryu has also served as a tax legal advisor to the Seoul Regional Tax Service, a member of the Financial Reform Advisory Committee of the Financial Services Commission, and a legislative support member in the National Assembly.
Attorney Lee Hwan-gu (37th Judicial Research and Training Institute) graduated from Korea University Law School and obtained a master's degree in tax law from UCLA. He has been responsible for various areas, including international tax, financial tax, and trust taxation, at Lee & Ko for 18 years since 2008. He has led taxpayer victories in various litigation cases, including corporate income tax disputes related to trademark usage by foreign companies and transfer pricing taxation targeting multinational corporations. Notably, he won a case after a five-year dispute where the tax authority proactively applied the profit split method for transfer pricing taxation.
The Yoon & Yang LLC tax group plans to expand its scope to include tax litigation, response to tax audits, comprehensive advisory related to high-value gift taxes and complex asset transfers. It aims to strengthen its comprehensive solution system tailored to the tax risks and restructuring needs of multinational corporations and to provide customized services to not only multinational corporations but also domestic large businesses.
Managing Partner Lee Myung-soo said, "The competitiveness of the international tax field is directly linked to trust with global clients," adding, "The expertise and rich experience of the three newly joined members will be a decisive factor in upgrading Yoon & Yang's international tax capabilities and providing differentiated client services."