On March 12, 2019, Kim & Chang received the “Legal Advisor Award” at the 2^nd Korea Legal Awards hosted by MoneyToday, a leading Korean economic newspaper.  

Kim & Chang’s Tax Litigation Practice received the “Legal Advisor Award” for representing OCI in a “tax neutral” spin-off tax case.  The award-winning team, which consisted of attorneys Byung-Moon Jung, Eui-Hwan Kim, Sung Gweon Cho, Sang Woo Lee, Hae Ma Joong Kim, and Eunchong Lee, was successful in persuading the Supreme Court to clarify the meaning and scope of a “tax neutral” spin-off, and to ultimately cancel the tax assessment of approximately KRW 450 billion (i.e., corporate income tax of KRW 280 billion and local income tax of KRW 170 billion) in connection with the establishment of DCRE (i.e., Korean subsidiary of OCI) and the subsequent spin-off.  

This landmark decision is an important precedent, which could be referred to by companies conducting a corporate restructuring in Korea in the form of a tax neutral spin-off.  This award demonstrates the outstanding expertise of our firm’s tax practice and practitioners.

The 2^nd Korea Legal Awards was co-hosted by MoneyToday and the Korea In-house Counsel Association; organized by Naver Legal Media; and sponsored by the Seoul Bar Association, Korea Chamber of Commerce, and the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board.  

This year’s awards ceremony was held on March 12, 2019 at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul.  The awards evaluated litigation, advisory and arbitration cases for 2018 based on the following criteria: innovative approach, significance of case, and degree of public contribution.  Ten experts from a diverse range of fields participated in the evaluation process to choose the winning law firms and lawyers.

Kim & Chang’s Tax Litigation Practice:

Kim & Chang’s Tax Litigation Practice maintains a high winning rate thanks to the vast experience and expertise of our tax attorneys, tax accountants and former government officials from the National Tax Service and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, who all closely work together as one solid team.