Law Firm Daeryun Forms Specialized Legal Team to Strengthen Defense Military Group

Recruitment of Military Incident Experts, Establishment of Nationwide Network

On the 9th, Law Firm (Ltd.) Daeryun announced that it is strengthening its Defense Military Group, specialized in military cases, to provide systematic legal services related to the military.

The Defense Military Group forms specialized teams of 3 to 20 members depending on the scale of the case to provide legal services.

Recently, Daeryun has recruited a large number of military-specialized lawyers, led by Group Head Attorney Kim Young-su. The strategy is for veteran experts with experience in internal military cases to oversee cases and increase the winning rate.

Attorney Kim Young-su (Military Legal Officer 13th class) is a former Navy Legal Corps Chief, Military Court Chief Judge, and Senior Military Court Judge. He has held key military positions such as Chief Prosecutor of the Navy High Prosecutor's Office and Director of the Navy Human Rights Center.

Attorney Kim has led major military criminal cases such as bribery and sexual violence within military units, as well as unprecedented lawsuits like class actions related to underpayment of pensions for retired soldiers.

Alongside Attorney Kim, Attorney Seo In-ho (Military Legal Officer 16th class), a former Army military judge and legal staff officer, will lead the dedicated team. Seo has diverse experience including the Army Headquarters, Joint Chiefs of Staff Legal Office, and serving as military judge for the 3rd Corps (Inje) and 5th Corps (Pocheon).

Attorney Seo served as legal staff officer (Chief Prosecutor) of the 30th Division, military human rights advisor for the 3rd Corps, and chairman of the Army Headquarters Special Committee on State Compensation. He specializes in military-related cases such as disciplinary actions for adultery among married personnel, alcohol-related discipline, insubordination, failure to obey orders, and violations of duty of honor.

In addition to Attorneys Kim and Seo, the Defense Military Group includes military-specialized lawyers such as Kim Young-hyung (Bar Exam 7th class), former legal office chief of the Air Force 5th Air Mobility Wing and Air Force military prosecutor; Kim Kyung-duk (Bar Exam 7th class), former legal officer of the Marine Corps 1st Division and Navy legal officer; Ji Eun-hye (Bar Exam 7th class), former advisory lawyer for the Army Logistics Support Command; Choi Hyun-duk (Bar Exam 8th class), former Air Force disciplinary investigator and litigation officer; and Park Yong-heul (Bar Exam 9th class), former military prosecutor and legal office chief of the Army 3rd Military Academy. They respond systematically to military cases.

They have successfully handled numerous military criminal cases including forging official documents to desert military duty, assault on junior soldiers, military sexual crimes such as forced molestation and rape, insulting superiors, and violations of military service laws.

Following recent amendments to the Military Court Act, some military crimes including sexual violence are now investigated by civilian investigative agencies and tried in civilian courts instead of military units. With the abolition of the High Military Court, factual judgments must also be made by external professional judges rather than the military.

However, disciplinary procedures still take place within military units, and expert assistance is needed for committee formation and related processes, according to legal circles.

Regarding this, Attorney Kim Young-su explained, “Disciplinary committee members are not legal experts but regular officers serving in the unit, so communication by experts who understand the atmosphere on the ground is necessary.”

Daeryun’s Defense Military Group is expanding its expertise and scope by linking with the Corporate Legal Group to handle numerous military-related cases such as defense industry corruption, military secrets cases, and IT project national contracts. They plan to provide optimal legal services through systematic collaboration between military-specialized lawyers and corporate legal experts.

The group is also actively pursuing military-related business agreements for expansion, having signed a legal advisory MOU with the Korea Defense Industry Association last month.

Attorney Kim expressed his ambition, saying, “Due to the military’s unique nature, military units are located nationwide, so regional offices must operate organically and act as one team. Although the regions differ, we will serve as a control tower to connect as a team and provide customized legal services to clients.”

Daeryun Law Firm Defense and Military Group (from top left clockwise: Youngsoo Kim, Chief General Counsel; Inho Seo, General Counsel; Younghyung Kim, Senior Counsel; Yongheul Park, Senior Counsel; Eunhye Ji, Counsel; Kyungdeok Kim, Counsel; Hyunduk Choi, Senior Counsel)