Lee & Ko has recruited Kyung Duk An, the former minister of employment and labour in South Korea from 2021 to 2022, as a senior adviser to fortify its labour practice.
“An is regarded as Korea’s top expert in human resources, labour and safety affairs,” Sanggon Kim, the senior managing partner at Lee & Ko told Asia Business Law Journal, on the firm’s recruitment.
“An will make a significant contribution across the industry, particularly by ensuring that clients adhere more strictly to labour regulations through enhanced compliance, thereby enabling them to operate their businesses more stably.”
Having passed the Public Administration Examinations in 1990, An spent more than three decades at the Ministry of Employment and Labour and related agencies. Notably, between 2019 and 2021, An served as a vice-chair of the Economic, Social and Labour Council of Korea, which is a social dialogue body directly under the Korean president.
Asked about An’s role in responding to the Serious Accident Punishment Act (SAPA), Kim replied: “While our firm has been monitoring a series of recent guilty verdicts related to the SAPA, An’s role is much broader. An will leverage his extensive experience and expertise to build our clients’ labour compliance system and will also focus on training Lee & Ko 濒补飞测别谤蝉.”
The SAPA came into force in 2022, which imposes serious criminal sanctions on the top decision-maker of a company in Korea responsible for accidents at workplaces. The Ministry of Employment and Labour reported last month that there had been 15 cases with final judgments since the enforcement of the SAPA, all of which resulted in guilty verdicts.
