[Law Firm Now] Law Firm YK Recruits Attorney Kang Jin-gu, Specialist in M&A and Corporate Cases

Resolution of Hanjin and Solgent Disputes
Experience in Advising on Major M&A Deals
YK Simultaneously Strengthens Corporate Dispute and Advisory Capabilities

Jang Jin-gu, Attorney at Law, YK Law Firm.

Law firm YK announced on the 1st that it has recruited attorney Kang Jin-gu (Judicial Research and Training Institute class 37), who has successfully led major M&A and corporate dispute cases.

With Kang's joining, YK plans to strengthen its corporate legal service capabilities.

From 2011 to 2022, Attorney Kang accumulated extensive experience and expertise in corporate law, M&A, and corporate disputes at law firm Gwangjang.

While working at Gwangjang in 2016, he earned an LL.M. (Master of Laws) degree from Duke University School of Law in the United States and worked at the Los Angeles office of the global law firm Sidley Austin until the following year, gaining international insight.

In particular, Attorney Kang has achieved significant results in the M&A field. He successfully led major transactions such as KT's new share subscription of Hyundai Robotics, SK Telecom's comprehensive stock exchange with SK Infosec, and Netmarble's acquisition and sale of Hive Entertainment shares. He also played a key role in various lawsuits related to the simultaneous merger of six CJ Group companies.

Attorney Kang also demonstrated his capabilities in the field of management rights disputes. In the Hanjin Group management rights dispute, he overcame a first-instance loss in the injunction lawsuit concerning the agenda proposal, which was a core issue, and led a victory in the higher court. The lawsuit was an injunction application related to shareholder proposal submission filed by the Kang Sung-bu Fund (KCGI). While partially granted in the first trial, it was dismissed in the second trial. The case centered on the judgment of the boundary between the exercise scope of shareholder proposal rights and the company's board of directors' authority, and it has since become a reference case in similar disputes.

In the 'Solgent management rights dispute,' regarded as Korea's first successful hostile M&A case by a small shareholder coalition, he served as the legal representative for the small shareholder coalition. Solgent, which rapidly grew with COVID-19 diagnostic kits, saw intensified control disputes among major shareholders over profit distribution and company operation direction, escalating distrust toward management. As the legal representative of the small shareholder coalition, Attorney Kang contributed to the coalition replacing all board members and securing management rights at the April 2022 extraordinary shareholders' meeting.

Additionally, Attorney Kang engages in research activities, contributing articles on M&A, management rights disputes, and shareholder activism to domestic and international institutions such as Seoul National University Financial Law Center and Chambers.

Last year, YK recorded sales of 154.7 billion KRW, ranking among the top seven law firms. It currently employs 367 lawyers, including former judges and prosecutors, ranking sixth in the industry, and operates 32 branch offices nationwide directly.