Yongman Bae

Partner

T. +82-2-3404-6577
F. +82-2-3404-0802
E. yongman.bae@bkl.co.kr

Overview

Yongman Bae focuses his practice on shareholder activism, governance and ESG activities, management rights disputes, share ownership disputes, equity investment disputes, general meeting of shareholders, board of directors as well as criminal litigation, commercial and financial litigation, international arbitration and international litigation, and disputes relating to joint ventures and commercial matters in Southeast Asia. Mr. Bae has successfully advised and represented clients in a number of cases, achieving good results. Mr. Bae joined Bae, Kim & Lee LLC in 2010 after receiving a LL.B. degree from Korea University and completing the Judicial Research and Training Institute course. He also earned a LL.M. degree from UC Berkeley School of Law and was seconded to the firm's Vietnam office in Ho Chi Minh City.

Related Practices

Representative Experience

2017 Bae, Kim & Lee LLC, Ho Chi Minh City

2010-Present Bae, Kim & Lee LLC

2024-Present Civilian Member, Integrity Ombudsman, The Korean Taxpayers Union

2024-Present Director, Incorporated Association Pom

2024-Present Member, ESG Special Committee, Seoul Bar Association

2023-Present Member, Kakao Compliance and Trust Committee

2022-2023 Member, State Contract Dispute Adjudication Board, Ministry of Economy and Finance

2022-Present Legal Advisor, Ministry of Economy and Finance

2021-Present Advisor, Legal Advisory Group for South-North Cooperation, Ministry of Unification

2019-Present Advisor, Legal Advisory Committee for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Expanding Abroad, Ministry of Justice

Representative Matters

Represented clients in civil and criminal cases relating to corporate disputes

Advised and represented IT company A in litigation and preliminary injunction proceedings related to a management right dispute

Advised bank B, companies BA and BC on M&A and preliminary injunctions

Represented clients in international lawsuits and arbitrations related to companies in U.K., Japan, Germany, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Turkey and Singapore

Advised Indonesian bank C and companies CA, CB, CD on commercial disputes

Represented clients in civil and criminal cases relating to corporate disputes

Advised and represented IT company A in litigation and preliminary injunction proceedings related to a management right dispute

Advised bank B, companies BA and BC on M&A and preliminary injunctions

Represented clients in international lawsuits and arbitrations related to companies in U.K., Japan, Germany, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Turkey and Singapore

Advised Indonesian bank C and companies CA, CB, CD on commercial disputes

Represented clients in criminal cases relating to embezzlement and malpractice of company managers

Represented clients in criminal cases relating to bribery of public officials

Represented clients in criminal cases relating to the election of the board president of the Korea Federation of Community Credit Cooperative

Represented clients in lawsuits concerning derivative products and forward exchange

Represented clients in lawsuits on shipping and finance

Represented clients in lawsuits related to the media (press)

Advised Singaporean company D, Vietnamese company DA, and others on commercial disputes

Advised Cambodian bank E on a dispute related to stocks

Advised Vietnamese company F on a dispute among shareholders

Represented companies G and GA, Vietnamese JVs, in disputes among shareholders

Advised trading company H on its acquisition of equity in Vietnamese company HA

Represented listed company I in litigation and preliminary injunction proceedings related to a management right dispute

Advised and represented J Express in litigation related to a dispute over disposal

Advised listed company K in litigation and preliminary injunction proceedings related to a management right dispute

Advised and represented listed company L in preliminary injunction proceedings related to a management right dispute

Advised companies M and MA on recovering management rights

Advised N Group (in Daegu, South Korea) on a management right dispute among family shareholders

Advised lease company O on exercising stockholder's rights against department store OA

Advised hotel P on the dispute over a management consignment contract

Advised company Q, electronics company QA, company QB, and others on disputes with minority shareholders

Advised asset management company R on a management right dispute

Advised golf course S on a management right dispute

Represented industrial complex T in preliminary injunction proceedings related to a management right dispute

Advised and represented companies U, UA, and others in lawsuits involving shareholders' appraisal rights

Represented company V, listed company VA and construction company VB in representative suits

Studied the legal support plans to improve the competitiveness of Gaeseong Industrial Complex (Ministry of Unification)

Studied Gyeonggi Province's countermeasures and legal and systematic measures when there are a large number of North Korean defectors (Gyeonggi Province)

Researched on the plan for the harmony and cooperation of intellectual property legal systems in the South and North Korea (Presidential Council on Intellectual Property)

Advised on responding to WTO disputes

Education

2017 University of California, Berkeley School of Law (LL.M.)

2010 Judicial Research and Training Institute, Supreme Court of Korea

2008 Korea University (LL.B.)

Selected Activities

Publications

Trends in Improvement of Listed Companies’ Public Disclosure System to Enhance Shareholders’ Value, BFL No. 126 (Co-author, Seoul National University Center for Financial Law, 2024)

Strategies and Responses of the Activist Fund shown at the 2024 General Shareholders’ Meeting, Auditor Journal Vol. No. 294 (Korea Listed Companies Association, 2024)

Panoramic: M&A Litigation 2024 - South Korea (Co-author, Lexology, 2024)

Trends in ESG-related Disclosure Legal Systems in Major Overseas Countries: Focusing on Europe, US, and Japan, BFL No. 123(Co-author, Seoul National University Center for Financial Law, 2024)

Review of Several Issues Related to Claim for Damages Filed against North Korea, Issue Paper on Legislation after Reunification Vol.11 (Korea Legislation Research Institute, 2023)

Legislative Research on the Promotion of New Future Initiative on Unification (Co-author, Korea Legislation Research Institute, 2023)

Key trends and predictions of change in corporate governance for 2023 and 2024, Auditor Journal Vol. 288 (Korea Listed Companies Association, 2023)

50 Selections of Recent Cases involving Disputes relating to Management Right and Stocks-Focusing on Non-Litigation Commercial and Provisional Injunction Cases (Co-author, Bae, Kim & Lee LLC, 2023)(non-for-sale)

M&A Litigation 2023 - South Korea (Co-author, Lexology GTDT, 2023)

Key Trends and Implications of Ordinary General Shareholders' Meetings in 2023 (Focusing on Shareholder Activism), Auditor Journal Vol. 280 (Korea Listed Companies Association, 2023)

Issues Related to Advisory Shareholder Proposals Examined through the Case Involving HDC Hyundai Development Company's Shareholder Proposal, BFL No. 114 (Co-author, Seoul National University Center for Financial Law, 2022)

Force Majeure and Hardship in the Asia-Pacific Region: Korea chapter (Co-author, JURIS Legal Information, 2022)

ESG and Institutional Investors – Pension Funds, Institutional Investors' Investment in ESG and Stewardship Code, BFL No. 109 (Co-author, Seoul National University Center for Financial Law, 2021)

Practical Guide to Investment in North Korea (Co-author, Do & Book, 2020)

Product Liability Laws and Regulations 2019-2022: Korea Chapter (ICLG, 2019-2022)

The Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Review, 7th-10th Edition: Korea Chapter (Co-author, Law Business Research, 2018-2021)

Legal Guide for Korean Companies to Pioneer the Emerging Market (Co-author, Ministry of Justice, 2018)

Practical Issues on Preliminary Injunctions Filed for Suspension of Transactions Subject to Resolution at a General Meeting of Shareholders (Co-author, Human Rights and Justice, 2016)

Review of Enforcement Regulation Concerning North Korea's New Mt. Geumgang International Tourist Zone Vol.16, No.16 (Co-author, Studies on North Korean Law, 2015)

Changes in West Germany's Settlement Support Policy During Germany's Division and Implications to the Korean Peninsula (Co-author, North Korean Refugees Support Foundation, 2011)

Awards

Legal Times - Corporate Governance & Shareholder Disputes: Rising Star (2024)

JoongAng Ilbo & Korea In-house Counsel Association – Cross-Border Disputes: Rising Star (2023)

Qualifications

2010 Korea