South Korean law firm D&A has strengthened its corporate practice with the addition of former Hyosung Group general counsel Cheon Su Kim as a partner at its Seoul office. The appointment of Kim in January 2026 also expands the firm’s takeover defence capabilities.
“As shareholder activist funds step up their activities in the Korean market, companies are increasingly required to adopt more sophisticated and multi-layered strategies to defend management control and engage with shareholders,” Kyu Chul Lee, senior managing partner at D&A, told Asia Business Law Journal.
Lee said that by recruiting Kim, a commercial law expert with extensive insight into corporate internal operations, D&A aimed to enhance its coverage of matters from shareholder meeting responses to litigation involving management control disputes.
Kim had served as general counsel and vice president of legal affairs at South Korean conglomerate Hyosung Group since 2017. Prior to that, he spent 18 years on the bench from 1992 to 2010, finishing his judicial career as a presiding judge at the Seoul Western District Court.
