Yoon & Yang LLC, a South Korea-based international law firm, has opened its second Vietnamese office in Hanoi, following the first in Ho Chi Minh City last year, the law firm said Thursday.

The Hanoi office is expected to act as a stepping stone for the firm’s expansion in the Southeast Asian legal market, it added.

“We aim to offer professional advisory services customized to each Southeast Asian country, and the opening of the Hanoi office will be the momentum to expand the firm’s legal service to Cambodia and Indonesia.” said Zunu Lee, a partner of the firm. 

The Hanoi office is the firm’s third international office following offices in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

While Ho Chi Minh City is the economic hub of Vietnam where multinational corporations conduct business activities, Hanoi is home to major administrative bodies and the country’s central bank. Yoon & Yang’s Hanoi office will provide legal services for South Korean companies and their subcontractors regarding business procedures in the region.

The two Vietnamese offices will be run by 12 attorneys, including attorney Sungdo Choi, a US qualified attorney licensed in New York, Georgetown University Law Center, who will be residing in Hanoi.

The firm’s Ho Chi Minh City office had previously started with seven attorneys, including Lee, who graduated from the New York University School of Law and is qualified in Korea and New York; partner Kim Hyong-kun, who graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Law and is qualified in Korea; expert adviser Dang Hyun-woo, who completed the attorney-at-law course of the Judicial Academy of Vietnam; and other Vietnamese lawyers.

Lee, head of the two offices, is currently providing Korean and multinational companies in Vietnam with legal advisory services based on his 17 years of extensive experience in corporate advisory work for multinational businesses, including mergers and acquisitions, cross-border transactions, corporate finance matters and international arbitration.

Kim previously worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and LG Display. He has expertise in Southeast Asian affairs and practiced in Cambodia for three years out of his 12-year legal career.

Dang is a seasoned professional in the Vietnamese legal market with practical experience, and has lived in Vietnam for 16 years. Dang has a bachelor’s degree in law from the Judicial Academy of Vietnam.

In addition, the newly joined Sungdo Choi is a US qualified attorney licensed in New York, who started his legal career at Hanafiah Ponggawa & Partners, a major law firm in Indonesia, and the ABNR, the country’s largest law firm.

With a bigger team, the new Hanoi office will help the firm further expand its client base to Cambodia and Indonesia and strengthen its legal market position in Southeast Asia.

Along with the expansion, Yoon & Yang’s Southeast Asia desk in Seoul will provide more resources to the foreign legal operation. The Southeast Asia desk comprises experienced professionals with expertise in the establishment of foreign branches; joint ventures; mergers and acquisitions; real estate; construction; initial public offerings; finance; labor and employment; international trade; and international arbitration and litigation.

Yoon & Yang was recognized as Emerging Markets Experts 2017 in Asian Legal Business’ January 2017 edition, which named it one of 11 international firms that are in leading positions in the Southeast Asian markets.

In addition, the firm was named Asia Tax Policy Firm of the Year at the Asia Tax Awards 2017 held by the International Tax Review.

By Bak Se-hwan (sh@heraldcorp.com)