Shall Korean Bonuses be Utilized for Calculating of Average Wages for Severance Payment Calculation Purposes?

The Supreme Court of Korea ruled that Hanwha Ocean (formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering)’s performance-based bonuses should not be considered wages for the calculation of severance payments under Korean Law. For additional articles on Korean Employment & Labor Law, see: IPG Legal’s Labor & Employment Law Archive On March 12, 2026, the Korean Supreme Court (2025da210219) upheld a lower court’s ruling in favor of the defendants in a lawsuit filed by 972 current and former Hanwha Ocean employees seeking severance pay based not only on salary

March 11, 2026 Sean Hayes

Korean Supreme Court Clarifies Statute of Limitations in Criminal Cases in Korea

In a recent decision by the Korean Supreme Court, the Court clarified how a statute of limitations tolls in Korea in criminal cases. The Supreme Court of Korea held that when prosecutors amend an indictment to add related charges, the statute of limitations should be determined based on the date of the original indictment rather than the date of the amendment of the indictment. On January 15, 2026, the Second Criminal Division of the Korean Supreme Court (Chief Justice Kwon Young-jun) overturned an appellate court decision that

March 10, 2026 Sean Hayes

Drafting & Negotiating Korean Joint Venture/Shareholder Agreements in Korea: Why Language, Governance, and Arbitration Clauses Matter

We have many clients who find it advisable to enter the Korean market through joint ventures with Korean partners. In many cases, this structure makes commercial sense: the Korean partner brings local market knowledge, relationships, regulatory familiarity, and operational experience, while the foreign partner contributes capital, technology, branding, and/or international distribution. However, joint ventures in Korea generate a disproportionate number of disputes involving foreign investors. In our experience advising multinational companies, many of these conflicts do not arise from bad faith or intentional misconduct. Instead, they arise

March 4, 2026 Sean Hayes

E-7 Visa Korea: A Guide for Foreign Professionals and Companies Intending to Sponsor Foreign Professionals to Work in Korea

South Korea is an increasingly attractive destination for foreign professionals, multinational companies, and entrepreneurs wishing to work and do business in Korea. Working legally in Korea, for non-Koreans, requires obtaining the appropriate immigration status under Korea’s Immigration Control Act. The law is interpreted and implemented by the Korea Immigration Services. For additional details on Korean Immigration Law, please see: IPG Legal’s Korean Immigration Law Archive. One of the most common visas for skilled foreign workers seeking employment in Korea is the E-7 visa. This visa allows Korean

March 3, 2026 Sean Hayes

Attorney-Client Privilege in Korea Clarified and Strengthened by Korean Supreme Court Holding

Cancellation of Seizure of Legal Opinion & Evidence in Korean Criminal Prosecution (2024Mo730) On February 20, 2025, the First Division of the Supreme Court of Korea (Chief Justice Shin Sook-hee) issued a significant ruling in 2024Mo730, canceling the Korean prosecution’s seizure of approximately 120,000 emails and related materials that included legal opinions exchanged between criminal defendants and their Koraen defense counsel. IPG Legal advises proactivity and demanding that your lawyers in Korea share all sensitive data via a secure cloud drive. For additional articles in Korean Criminal Law

February 24, 2026 Sean Hayes

Trade Secret Protection Act Crimes in Korea Clarified by Supreme Court of Korea

In a ruling that is important for technology companies, multinational employers, and cross-border R&D stakeholders, the Supreme Court of Korea (Third Criminal Division, January 15, 2025, 2025Do13231) held that the crimes of acquiring, using, and disclosing trade secrets under the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act of Korea must be independently examined rather than analysed as a single course of conduct. This decision, arising from a high-profile semiconductor trade secret case involving a former Samsung Electronics executive and the alleged leakage of 18nm DRAM process

February 20, 2026 Sean Hayes

Procedural Legality and the Right to Counsel in Korean School Violence & Other School Committee Disciplinary Proceedings in Korea

Recent reports concerning the restriction on Korean attorneys’ participation in School Violence Countermeasures Review Committee (SSCRB) proceedings raise issues in Korean administrative law and constitutional law: whether limiting an attorney’s presence and participation in quasi-adjudicative disciplinary proceedings violates the right to representation and/or constitutes a procedurally unlawful administrative action. Reported variations in committee practice – ranging from full Korean attorney participation in some schools to preclusion or speech restrictions in others – demonstrate the absence of unified procedural standards and processes. The Korean Bar Association has noted

February 20, 2026 Sean Hayes

Statutory Damages in Korea Under PIPA for Personal Information Data Breaches

A recent Korean Supreme Court decision has fundamentally reshaped litigation risk analysis under the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), particularly regarding statutory damages under Article 39-2(1) of PIPA. The following post is essential reading for CISOs and those entrusted with company data. Contrary to widespread assumptions in the compliance community in Korea, the Korean Supreme Court confirmed that: A personal information processor may avoid statutory damages by proving that the data subject suffered no compensable mental damage — even where a data breach occurred. This ruling is

February 16, 2026 Sean Hayes

Internal Data Sharing Between Departments in Korean Companies under PIPA: Korean Personal Information Protection Act Basics

In many Korean companies, internal data sharing between departments is mistakenly viewed as a simple operational matter rather than a regulated activity that may lead to criminal sanctions, fines, and reputational damage. Intra-company data movement in Korea is generally not classified as a third-party disclosure; it is nevertheless subject to strict statutory principles, including purpose limitation, data minimization, accountability, and mandatory safeguards. From a regulatory perspective, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) has increasingly focused not only on external breaches but also on governance failures involving internal

February 11, 2026 Sean Hayes

Korean Inheritance Law & Trust Planning Resource Guide by IPG Legal’s Seoul, Korea Office

A Comprehensive Resource on Wills, Forced Heirship, Estate Disputes, and Cross-Border Succession Inheritance law in Korea presents unique challenges that are often underestimated by foreign nationals, overseas Koreans, and international families. Korea’s civil law system imposes mandatory inheritance rules, strict procedural requirements, and one of the most demanding inheritance tax regimes globally. These issues frequently intersect with foreign laws, creating complex cross-border disputes and unintended outcomes that IPG Legal works on for clients. Over many years, The Korean Law Blog has published detailed articles on Korean inheritance

The Korean Law Blog by IPG Legal Law Firm