Restrictive Covenants in Korean Employment Agreements and the Lawyers in Korea that Draft Them

The form agreements dished out by some Korean “legal experts” on employment law at many of the “ubiquitous” Korean “law firms” have led me to write, again, on this issue.

If a lawyer gives you a form labor agreement/employment separation agreement that does not consider the below, no need to fret, you are not alone – just move on and find a proactive attorney in Korea.

I recently saw an employment separation agreement drafted by a self-proclaimed “top” law firm, which sold to a client a form agreement that showed a total lack of knowledge of Korea’s Labor & Employment law. Many of these “firms” claim to be the biggest and best in Asia. Most are not law firms (loose associations of lawyers) and often have training programs developed by senior attorneys that focus solely on profitability per junior lawyer (since they are not profitable based on only their own few hours worked). This sad reality is gladly changing, since the first population of this post (updated in 2026 from a post first posted in 2018).

Sorry for venting, but too many law firms in Korea are engaging in acts that are making it difficult for dedicated lawyers and firms with transparent billing practices and a care for clients to maintain their good reputations. I dread when a client starts a sentence “Korean law firms . . .” The client is usually correct, but an increasing number of other teams operate in a manner similar to the quality-focused practices of Australian, British, German, & American law firms.

If you are sold by the names on the firm’s letterhead in Korea, you have been duped. Most law firms of a size over a few dozen have the same connections and names as the firms with hundreds of lawyers. The small firms are more likely to use the connections for you – the biggest firms are unlikely to use them for anyone but themselves. Exceptions are sometimes made for clients who fork over barrels full of cash.

Restrictive Covenants in Employment Agreements in Korea

In general, to enforce restrictive covenants in Korean agreements concerning employment (i.e., employment separation agreements), a court in Korea will consider the “totality of the circumstances.” The Korean court will consider factors such as:

1. If a benefit for the restriction was conferred on the employee in exchange for the restriction;
2. The seniority of the employee;
3. The scope of the agreement (i.e. temporal and geographic limit);
4. The past compliance of labor and employment laws;
5. The inferred (of course by court) purpose of the covenant.

Therefore, ensure that you get drafted an agreement, at a minimum, that:

1. Limits the scope to a specific geographic area, time period, product line etc.
2. Has a facial bargained-for-exchange. The restrictive covenant should be in exchange for a monetary amount. This may be drafted without providing “actual” additional compensation beyond the normal termination package;
3. Applies the agreement to the more senior employees or if applied to junior employee is carefully drafted to specifically detail the reasons for inclusion of more junior employee;
4. Makes the purpose of the restriction clear on its face.

by Sean Hayes
NY attorney Sean Hayes is the only non-Korean to have worked as a government attorney for the Korean court system and one of the first non-Koreans to have served as a regular member of a Korean law faculty. He is rated as a Top Attorney by LawAsia and other publications. Sean works with senior retired judges and some of the leading Korean lawyers engaged for litigation matters in Korea and abroad. If you would like a consultation with Sean Hayes, please Schedule a Call with Sean.