Kyung Geun Lee

  • Senior Advisor
  • T. +82-2-3404-1079
  • F. +82-2-3404-7687
  • E. kyunggeun.lee@bkl.co.kr

Overview

Kyung Geun Lee's main areas of expertise include advice on tax issues (including transfer pricing) arising from the entry of foreign companies into Korea, mergers and acquisitions, and various forms of overseas investments by Korean companies. Mr. Lee has been evaluated as a Band 1 Group of Tax Consultants by Chambers Asia-Pacific since 2013 until this year.

Mr. Lee has successfully advised on numerous high-profile international tax matters, including transfer pricing (including APA) for companies such as Louis Vuitton Korea, Visa Card Korea, Baxter Korea, SK Global Chemicals, LG Electronics and LG Chem, and Hyosung Co., Ltd.; the application of tax treaty benefits (including mutual agreement procedures) for companies such as Master Card Korea, Applied Materials Korea, Stats ChiPac, and ICI Global (the U.S. Fund Association); and tax lawsuits in India for Samsung Heavy Industries, Doosan Co., Ltd., and LG Electronics; and represented Coca Cola Korea in VAT appeals. He also led legislative amendment initiatives to allow subsidiaries to deduct expenses related to stock-based compensation (including stock options) paid to their parent companies, successfully representing Shinhan Financial Group, Morgan Stanley, Citibank, J.P. Morgan, UBS, HSBC, and Deutsche Bank in the process.

During his tenure at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Mr. Lee served as the senior representative in the negotiations of amendments to tax treaties with tax authorities of China, Australia, Canada, etc., and in 1995, he laid the foundation for Korea's transfer pricing tax system by drafting the Act on Adjustment of International Taxes, which included major international tax systems such as the transfer pricing tax system. From 1999 to 2003, he served as the administrative officer in charge of the department dealing with transfer pricing tax systems, etc. at the Secretariat of the OECD Finance Committee. From July 2005 to 2007, he served as the Vice Chairman of the UN Tax Experts Committee for four full years, and thereafter, he participated as a private expert in the "Transfer Pricing Subcommittee" of the same Committee. In 2019, he also served as the President of the Korea International Tax Association (IFA Korea).

Representative Experience

2025-Present Bae, Kim & Lee LLC
2022-2025 Associate Professor, Endowed Chair Professor, aSSIST University
2007-2025 Yulchon LLC
2007 Head of the Income Distribution Improvement Team, Headquarters for Countermeasures against Polarization of Livelihoods, Ministry of Planning and Budget
2004-2007 Head of Income Tax Division, Head of International Tax Division, Head of Corporate Tax Division, Tax Office, Ministry of Finance and Economy

Education

2002 Paris School of Political Science (Ph.D.)
1992 UC Berkeley, U.S.A. (MBA)
1983 Seoul National University (B.A.)

Selected Activities

Publications
Understanding and Practice of International Taxes, Revised 8th Edition (Jose Tongram, 2024)
International Tax Lecture Notes–The Core (Seoul Economic Management Publishing, 2024)
Transfer Pricing and Digital Tax Guide Book (Jose Tongram, 2023)
Theory and Practice of the Adjustment of International Taxes Act (Sekyungsa, 1998)
Assessment on the Government's Tax Law Amendment Proposal on Virtual Assets and Recommendations for its Improvement, Taxation and Accounting Research, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 505-556(Korea Tax Research Institute affiliated with the Korean Association of Certified Public Tax Accountants, 2020)
Research on the Relationship between Domestic Tax Law and Anti-Tax Avoidance Provisions under Tax Treaty and Future Improvement Measures for Related Systems–Focusing on Major Purpose Criteria Introduced in Tax Treaties, Collection of Tax Studies, Vol. 34 No. 2, pp. 33-74(Korea International Tax Association, 2018)
How to Customize the Key Provisions of the OECD Guidelines on Transfer Pricing Taxation to be Amended in Conformity with the BEPS Project, Accounting, Taxation and Audit Studies, Vol. 59 No. 3, pp. 255-298(Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 2017)
Awards
Chambers Asia-Pacific - Leading Lawyer (Tax Consultants; 2013-2025)
Presidential Citation (1993)
Citation (Commissioner of National Tax Service, 1987)

Qualifications

2015 Authorized Administrative Agent (Korea)
1999 Certified Tax Accountant (Korea)