Yoon & Yang LLC (Managing Partner Lee Myung-Soo) announced on the 4th that it has hired lawyer Lee Jin-Kook, a specialist in domestic and international mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and capital markets, and lawyer Yoon So-Young, who passed the bar examination in its first session. Previously, Yoon & Yang also hired Managing Partner Yoon Hee-Woong, who is considered a giant in the domestic capital market industry. All three come from Yulchon.
Lawyer Lee Jin-Kook majored in law at Seoul National University, passed the bar exam in 1998, and served as an Army legal officer. He joined Yulchon in 2004 and has spent over 20 years at C&F Group, successfully completing various large transactions in domestic and international M&A and capital markets.
Lee possesses corporate legal advisory expertise that encompasses both inbound and outbound M&A transaction advisory as well as initial public offerings (IPO), which is rare among domestic lawyers.
He has played key roles in major transactions, including the sale of LOTTE Rental from Lotte Group, the acquisition of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (now Hanwha Ocean) and HDS Engine (now Hanwha Engine) by Hanwha Group, Naver's acquisition of Poshmark in the U.S., the sale of management rights of Baedal Minjok, and the acquisition of MiniStop by Lotte Group, along with advising on SK IE Technology's IPO, Lotte Shopping's REITs IPO, Hyundai AutoEver's IPO, and Hanwha System's IPO. In particular, he also advised on MBK Partners' acquisition of Homeplus, which is recorded as the largest scale private equity (PE) M&A in Asia, with a transaction value of 7.2 trillion won.
Lawyer Yoon So-Young is regarded as a 'next-generation ace' in the field of M&A and corporate governance advisory. After graduating at the top of her class from the Department of Architecture at the College of Engineering, Seoul National University, she obtained a master's degree in psychology from the same university and graduated second in her class from the law school in 2012. She then built her capacity in M&A and corporate governance advisory at Yulchon for over ten years.
She has played a pivotal role in numerous significant transactions, including the comprehensive stock swap between Hanwha Galleria and Timeworld, the establishment project for a media content holding company by KT Group, Hillhouse Capital Group's investment in Market Kurly, the equity sale transaction of Lotte Capital, the acquisition of Homeplus by MBK Partners, and the IPO of SK IE Technology.
After completing a program at Harvard Law School in the U.S. in 2018, Yoon obtained her attorney license in New York. She also gained experience in global transaction practices at the New York office of the global law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. Additionally, from 2022 to 2024, she served as the legal director at Naver, overseeing strategic investment advisory on Naver's acquisition of Poshmark and various legal issue response strategies.
Yoon & Yang plans to strengthen its comprehensive response system and corporate advisory competitiveness in line with the complex corporate environment and M&A landscape resulting from the new government's amendments to corporate law through this recruitment. Previously, Yoon & Yang had also hired Managing Partner Yoon Hee-Woong, seen as a giant in the domestic capital markets, and Senior Foreign Attorney Yoo Myung-Hyun (New York), who is evaluated as a 'star player' in overseas mergers and acquisitions.
Lee Myung-Soo, managing partner of Yoon & Yang, noted that 'to meet the complex transaction structures and diverse customer needs across industries, experts with differentiated experiences and customer-centric strategic thinking are essential.' He stated, 'Yoon & Yang will enhance its talent acquisition until our corporate advisory field establishes itself as a top tier in Korea based on 'customer centricity.'