South Korean culture is everywhere these days, from film and television to the now-ubiquitous K-pop music. These strong cultural exports have led to a record US$1 billion trade surplus in cultural IP rights, according to a report published earlier this year by the Bank of Korea.  

Overall, South Korean IP rights accounted for a US$180 million trade surplus, the largest ever in annual terms. The Bank of Korea report said that culture and arts copyrights and IPR generated US$1.1 billion in profit in 2023 on US$3.35 billion in exports. At the same time, patents and trademarks remain in a trade deficit situation. 

South Korea first began collecting data to analyze IPR trade balances in 2012; the trade balance remained in the red until 2020, when the first IPR trade balance appeared. The industry has generated four consecutive years of surplus from exporting copyrights. 

“Overseas demand for Korean music, dramas, webtoons and the like remain high, and Korean artists have increased the frequency of overseas concerts and performances since the relaxation of Covid lockdowns,” said Hye-jeong Moon, who leads the Bank of Korea’s balance of payments division, told Seoul’s Hankyoreh Media Group in March 2024. “Although the Korean gaming industry’s software copyrights are in a slump, Korean firms have increased their exports of software programs to their overseas affiliates, which has contributed to the overall trade surplus.” 

The Bank of Korea report stated that patents and utility patents faced a trade deficit of US$700 million; trademarks and franchises (US$1.1 billion) and design rights (US$90 million) also faced trade deficits. 

Meanwhile, South Korea has introduced stronger sentencing laws for those convicted of stealing or leaking technology information through the Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology Act. Protection of semiconductor technology is of chief concern after more people are being apprehended for stealing such technology on behalf of Chinese and other foreign firms, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) told The Korea Times. 

“The revised law aims to prevent technology theft either by intention or mistake,” a ministry official told the newspaper. “It’s a shield against cases in which foreign entities establish companies here to steal our technologies. It also prevents those unfamiliar with the law from unintentionally leaking the technologies overseas.” 

According to the MOTIE, the number of cases of theft of key technologies peaked in 2023 at 23, the highest number since 2019, and involved semiconductors, rechargeable batteries, displays and automobiles.  

As intellectual property protection continues to be a key responsibility for in-house legal departments in South Korea, we turned to IP professionals in the region in order to understand better what clients are looking for from today’s outside IP lawyer. Asia IP asked a large number of professionals – mostly in-house counsel and corporate legal managers – what they were looking for from their legal service providers. From their answers, we have compiled our list of South Korea’s 60 IP Experts, those lawyers who understand just what their clients need and are able to provide them with the best practical advice.  

Top-notch individuals are increasingly easy to come by in Seoul, and the legal market is seeing a transformation from a small handful of old-school, very established firms dominating the market to a larger number of firms for legal departments to choose from.  

Kim & Chang led our list with five lawyers on the list, with a number of firms nipping at their heels with four lawyers each on the list: Bae, Kim & Lee; Lee & Ko; Lee International IP & Law and NAM IP Group. 

FirstLaw; Y.P. Lee, Mock & Partners; and Yulchon each placed three lawyers on the list, while a host of firms had two each: E.M. Hwang & Partners; Jipyong; KBK & Associates; Muhann Patent & Law Firm; PI IP Law; Shin & Kim; Yoon & Lee International Patent & Law Firm; and You Me Patent & Law Firm. 

Fourteen different firms each placed one lawyer on our list, accounting for nearly one-quarter of all lawyers named. 

Most of the lawyers named to our list have multiple practice specialties. Many of them are litigators, while others concentrate on prosecution work or provide strategic advice.  

All of them have something in common: they are experts in their fields and, in one way or another, they provide extra value for their clients. They are Asia IP’s South Korea IP Experts. – GREGORY GLASS 

South Korea’s IP Experts is based solely on independent editorial research conducted by Asia IP. As part of this project, we turned to in-house counsel in South Korea, Asia and elsewhere around the world, as well as Asia-focused partners at international law firms, and asked them to nominate private-practice lawyers including foreign legal consultants, advisers and counsel.  

The final list reflects the nominations received combined with the input of the editorial team at Asia IP, which has nearly 50 years of collective experience in researching and understanding South Korea’s legal market. 

All private practice intellectual property lawyers in South Korea were eligible for inclusion in the nominations process; there were no fees or other requirements for inclusion in the process. 

The names of our 60 IP Experts are published here. Each IP Expert was given the opportunity to include their biography and contact details in print and on our website, for which a fee was charged.