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Kim & Chang Legal Newsletter (2022 Issue 4) This is a quaterly update of legal developments in Korea from Kim & Chang. This issue includes: SAPA Indictments and Their Implications Financial Authorities Move to Strengthen Regulation of Corporate Restructuring User Protection and Regulation of Unfair Trade in the Digital Asset Industry Review of Proposed Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of MRFTA Measures to Innovate Bank Internal Controls Recent Amendments to Regulations on Corporate Disclosure and Groups of Listed Companies to Protect General Shareholders Implementing Climate Change Impact Assessment System for Carbon Neutrality Establishment of Joint Expert Investigation Team for Environmental Crimes FSC Announces Measures to Strengthen Penalties for Unfair Trade Practices in Capital Markets Sector Financial Regulators Announce Plan to Improve Insurance Regulations and the Financial Supervisory Service Plans to Improve its Supervision and Audit System US Commerce Department’s Additional Restrictions on Exports of Semiconductors to China Impact Korean Industries Updates on Self-Rating Framework for Online Video Products and Trends in Online Platform Self-Regulation Amendments to Set Forth Method of Selecting Employee Members of LMC and Majority Employee Participation Obligation Implementation of Pre-Designated Operation System for Pension Plans To view the newsletter, please click the link below. Kim & Chang Legal Newsletter (2022 Issue 4) .content_view .view_area a {color: #2c3e50; text-decoration: none;} .content_view .view_area a {color: #2c3e50; text-decoration: none;}
2023.01.06

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Legislative Notice of Proposed Amendment to the Civil Act to Introduce the Digital Content Contract Act On December 1, 2022, the Ministry of Justice of Korea (the “MOJ”) announced a proposed amendment to the Civil Act to introduce the Digital Content Contract Act, which will regulate transactions involving digital content and related services. The proposed amendment is prepared with reference to the “EU Directive 2019/770 on certain aspects concerning contracts for the supply of digital content and digital services,” which was introduced by the European Union in May 2019. The proposed amendment aims to enhance user protection by regulating contracts for digital content and related services, with features distinguished from general purchase contracts. The provisions in the proposed amendment are of discretionary nature. Accordingly, when passed, the proposed amendment would not immediately apply to the service providers that have already entered into contracts (e.g., terms and conditions, or terms of use) with users. Nevertheless, the provisions in the proposed amendment may still be considered in the regulatory authorities’ review of standardized contracts or enforcement of laws and regulations and serve as the guiding principle/standard by the court or competent authorities when resolving disputes between service providers and users. In its press release on the proposed amendment dated December 1, 2022, the MOJ also explained that the proposed amendment is intended to address the concerns that “the terms of use of service providers are too broad in scope or vary widely from one to another” and that “the terms and conditions primarily reflect the service providers’ position, and therefore insufficient to protect users.” The MOJ will reportedly finalize the proposed amendment based on the public comments collected during the public comment period and submit it to the National Assembly in early 2023. The public comment period for the proposed amendment ends on January 10, 2023. We will need to continue monitoring the relevant developments. Key details of the proposed amendment are as follows. 1. Establishing the Concept of “Contract for Provision of Digital Products” (newly inserted as Article 733-2) In adding “digital product supply contract” as one of the contracts regulated under the Civil Act, the proposed amendment defines the term as “an agreement under which one party provides the other party with content (digital content) produced and supplied in digital form or services related to the production, processing, storage, distribution of, and access to, such content (digital services) (collectively, “digital products”), and the other party provides consideration in return for the use thereof.” Although the scope of products and services subject to the proposed amendment is unclear, based on the above definition, it would be reasonable to interpret that the proposed amendment applies not only to the typical content such as video products, webtoons, e-books, games, music sources, and services related thereto, but also to app markets, cloud services, social media services, etc. In addition, it could be viewed that because the proposed amendment uses the concept of “consideration” rather than “fee,” it may apply also to cases where personal information, rather than payment of money such as subscription fees, is provided in return for the use of digital products. Moreover, as the proposed amendment does not limit users of digital products to individuals, it would also be prudent for B2B service providers to review the proposed amendment. 2. Imposing Obligation to Provide Quality Digital Products and Maintain Quality (newly inserted as Article 733-3) Providers of digital products (“providers”) are obligated to provide quality digital products and maintain the quality as follows. ① Providers shall provide digital products with “functions and quality that are reasonably expected of such products in terms of contractual or trade norms.” ② Even after providing digital products to users, providers shall take reasonable supplementary measures necessary to maintain the above functions and quality (a) for the provision period if the digital product is to be supplied on an ongoing basis or (b) taking into account the nature, purpose, etc. of the digital product, a substantial period if the digital product is to be supplied on a one-time basis. Because the scope of “functions and quality that are reasonably expected” of digital products is open to different interpretations, the resulting ambiguity and uncertainty may cause difficulties in the provision of services in practice in line with the amendment. The MOJ also expressed its position that “the level of functions and quality that are reasonably expected will be more clearly specified going forward based on court precedents, trade practices, etc.” For reference, “gacha games, which provide false probability information and manipulate probability” are presented as an example of content with quality that falls short of such expectation in the MOJ’s information material dated December 16, 2022. Furthermore, “substantial period” and “reasonable supplementary measures” in item (ii) above are also not clearly defined and thus open to different interpretations, which may increase the burden on the providers with respect to user complaints, disputes, investigations by the regulatory authorities, etc. The same goes with the defect warranty liability provisions discussed in section three below. 3. Establishing Separate Defect Warranty Liability Provisions for Digital Products (newly inserted as Article 733-4) The proposed amendment recognizes users’ claims against providers regarding a defect in digital products. In addition, the proposed amendment extends the defect warranty liability period, which is currently up to one year under the Civil Act, to two years. ① If there is any defect in digital products, the user may claim correction thereof. ② If the provider refuses to correct the defect without any justifiable reason, or if the correction of the defect is excessively costly, or if the correction cannot be reasonably expected, the user may claim reduction of the price or cancellation or termination of the contract (provided, however, that if the defect is not material, the user may only claim reduction of the price). Under the current law, providers are obligated to grant users the right to cancel their purchase under the Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce and are recommended to take necessary measures in response to user complaints under the Consumer Dispute Resolution Guidelines of the Korea Fair Trade Commission. We understand the proposed amendment as an attempt to prescribe providers’ legal liability that may be claimed based on digital products’ “function” and “quality,” which are rather abstract concepts. Considering that the scope of the obligation to provide quality digital products and maintain the quality may be broadly interpreted and applied as explained in section two above, there is an increased likelihood of providers being held liable for defect warranty for failure to perform such obligation. More importantly, as a defect warranty liability claim does not require the user to prove the provider’s willfulness or negligence, providers may have a greater difficulty in responding to disputes with users. Many service providers already have provisions on liability exemption in their terms and conditions, but given the potential increased liability for defects, they may consider updating their terms and conditions to expand the scope of such exemption. However, depending on the scope and degree of the exemption, such liability exemption provision may be judged to be invalid or subject to correction under the Standardized Contract Regulation Act (the “SCRA”). Therefore, the existing liability exemption provisions, or any revisions thereof, may not be sufficient in terms of effectively mitigating the potential risks associated with liability for defects under the proposed amendment. 4. Regulating Legal Relation between Parties after Termination of Contract (newly inserted as Article 733-5) The proposed amendment imposes the following restrictions on both users and providers after the termination of the contract. ① Users are not allowed to continue to use or provide the digital products to third parties after the termination of the contract. ② Providers are no longer allowed to use the content created by users while they were using the digital products after the termination of the contract; provided, however, that providers may continue to use the content if (a) the user consents to the provider’s use of his/her content even after the termination of the contract, or (b) the provider or any other third party has legitimate interest in the use of the content. We view that item (i) above would be particularly applicable for contracts for provision of video products, music sources, software services, etc. that are “non-exclusive, easily reproduced and used after the fact” as mentioned in the “Statement of Reason for Amendment by Each Provision,” rather than for services that restrict access upon cancellation of membership. Meanwhile, item (ii) is expected to have more direct impact on services where User-Generated Content (“UGC”) is created rather than one-way digital content and services. 5. Regulating Provider’s Right to Change Digital Product under Ongoing Provision Contract (newly inserted as Article 733-6) Under the proposed amendment, a provider offering services based on an ongoing provision contract may exercise its right to change the digital product only if all of the following requirements are met. However, even if all of the following requirements are met, a user can terminate the contract within a substantial period if his/her interest in using the digital product is infringed due to the change of the product. ① The provider shall have reserved the right to change at the time of entering into the contract. ② There shall be reasonable grounds for changing the digital product, such as when it becomes difficult to achieve the purpose of the product or when the interest of either party is unfairly infringed unless the digital product is changed. ③ Prior to changing the product, the provider shall notify its users of the purpose and details of such change in advance, with a substantial time interval. The SCRA invalidates a “provision that grants a service provider the right to unilaterally determine or change the details of benefits without any substantial reason.” Meanwhile, the proposed amendment sets itself apart from the SCRA in that it regulates the change of products itself and requires that there be reasonable grounds for such change, e.g., it becomes difficult to achieve the purpose or the interest of either party is unfairly infringed. While there are various elements that constitute digital products (e.g., image quality, revenue structure, ancillary functions, scope of content sharing, and content library), the scope of “change of digital products” subject to the proposed amendment is unclear at this stage. It also remains ambiguous what cases could constitute “infringement upon interest in using the digital product,” which is the condition for users to exercise their right to terminate the contract. We view that such ambiguity may lead to increased termination claims by users and related disputes over whether the provider has duly changed its digital product. [Korean Version]
2023.01.09

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KFTC Releases Results of 2022 Survey of Supplier-Distributor Transactions in 18 Industries On December 29, 2022, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (the “KFTC”) issued a press release announcing the results of its annual supplier-distributor survey conducted in connection with the Fairness in Distributor Transactions Act (“FDTA”). From August to September 2022, questionnaires were sent to 546 suppliers and 50,000 distributors across 18 industries, to which 100% of the suppliers and 38.5% of the distributors surveyed have responded. Unlike previous years where the survey was targeted to a small number of industries, the 2022 survey covered 18 industrial sectors, including food and beverage, clothing, telecommunication, pharmaceutical, automotive retail, auto parts, furniture, home appliances, publishing, boiler/heating products, petroleum products, medical devices, machinery, animal feed, household goods, alcoholic beverages, paint and cosmetic products. The survey is designed to provide the KFTC with a better understanding of the current status and practices in supplier-distributor transactions, and to assist in the development of new policies, implementation of regulatory changes and planning of ex-officio investigations. In particular, as the KFTC has expressly indicated in its press release that it would closely monitor alleged unfair trade practices and FDTA violations uncovered as part of the survey, we may expect that the KFTC would take steps to review and correct such issues in the future, including through ex-officio investigations of market participants. We note that this would also be consistent with the KFTC’s past practice, as it has conducted a number of on-site investigations based on the results of past surveys. According to the press release, the KFTC also plans to encourage companies active in certain industries which exhibited a low adoption rate of the KFTC’s model distribution agreement (e.g., alcoholic beverages, petroleum products, automotive retail, telecommunication industries) to adopt the model distribution agreement. While use of the model distribution agreement is not mandatory, the KFTC has strongly encouraged its adoption and use, as it reflects what the KFTC considers to be best practice. As such, we would recommend that companies take into consideration the terms of the model distribution agreement when entering new distribution contracts, or in amending/renewing existing agreements with third-party distributors. Survey Results: Prevalent Types of Unfair Trade Practices by Industry The survey included questions to distributors relating to (i) satisfaction with current supplier-distributor arrangements and perceived improvements in trade practices, (ii) satisfaction with the KFTC’s current policies and awareness of newly introduced regulations, (iii) degree of adoption of model distribution agreements, (iv) experience with unfair trade practices, (v) experience with resale price maintenance, (vi) experience with demands for improvements to points of sale and frequency of such requests, (vii) information regarding difference between supply price to distributors and suppliers’ online retail price and (viii) hardships caused by, and relief received with regards to, the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the 19,252 distributors who responded, the most commonly experienced unfair trade practice was the imposition of forced sales targets (49.2% of automotive retail, 24.2% of boiler/heater products, and 21.4% of machinery industry respondents). The survey also revealed that a non-insignificant number of respondents had indicated that they had received demands to provide business information, experienced unfair disadvantages, been forced to make purchases, and been forced to transact without a written contract. Also notable was the fact that an average 14.3% of the respondents indicated having been forced by suppliers to maintain their retail price above a set level (i.e., retail price maintenance), a practice which was found to be relatively more prevalent in automotive retail (63.3%), paint products (58.7%) and cosmetics products (55%) industries. As the KFTC may well look to proceed with an investigation of such alleged unfair trade practices in the future, companies operating in the affected industries should consider reviewing their current policies and practices. The following is a summary of some of the key results of the 2022 survey: Industry Survey Results Automotive retail Forced sales targets: 49.2% of respondents indicated being subject to sales targets (this may be due to the prevalence of exclusive supplier-distributor arrangements in automotive retail, and the inherent difficulty for distributors to display or sell other suppliers’ products, including through online channels, due to the nature of such products). Imposition of disadvantages: Automotive retail had the highest percentage (15.3%) of respondents who indicated that they had been unfairly subject to disadvantages by suppliers. Resale price maintenance: of the industries surveyed, the automotive retail industry also had the highest percentage (63.3%) of respondents who experienced resale price maintenance. Requests to improve points of sale: 63.3% of respondents of the automotive retail industry (which mostly consists of offline sales) indicated that suppliers had demanded improvements to their points of sale. Cosmetics Request to provide business information: The cosmetics industry had the highest percentage (9.8%) of respondents who indicated having faced demands by suppliers to provide their business information. Imposition of disadvantages: 12% of respondents said they had been unfairly subject to disadvantages (representing a relatively high percentage of affirmative responses). Resale price maintenance: 55% of respondents indicated having experienced resale price maintenance. Boiler/heater, machinery Forced sales targets: 24.2% of the boiler/heater industry and 21.4% of the machinery industry respondents indicated that they were coerced to achieve set sales targets (this may be due to the prevalence of exclusive distributor arrangements in these industries and the need to provide installment and repair services). Coerced purchases: 14.5% of the boiler/heater industry and 6.7% of the machinery industry respondents indicated that they had been coerced to make unwanted purchases. Household goods Coerced purchases: 5.3% of the respondents indicated having been coerced to make unwanted purchases. Furniture Request to provide business information: 8.9% of the respondents indicated having faced supplier demands for disclosure of their business information. Requests to improve points of sale: 32.1% of respondents in the furniture industry (which is primarily focused on offline sales), indicated that suppliers had demanded improvements to their points of sale. Alcoholic beverages Request to provide business information: 8.7% of the respondents indicated having faced supplier demands for disclosure of their business information. Telecommunication Imposition of disadvantages: 9.1% of respondents indicated that they had unfairly been subject to disadvantages (representing a relatively high percentage of affirmative responses). Method of selecting interior design companies for points of sale: 67.4% of respondents indicated that the supplier designated the interior design company to be contracted for point of sale improvements by the distributor, although in many such cases, the supplier also bore part of the costs relating to the work performed. Pricing to distributors vs. online retail price: 91.6% of the respondents indicated that the supplier’s online retail price was equal to or lower than the supply price to the responding distributors (regarding such result, the press release also included a comment that perhaps additional efforts should be made by suppliers to ensure the price competitiveness of the distributors). Clothing Resale price maintenance: 53.8% of respondents said they had experienced resale price maintenance. Request to improve points of sale and selection of interior design contractor: 37.3% of respondents in the clothing industry (which is primarily focused on offline sales) indicated that suppliers had demanded improvements to the points of sales, and 62.6% indicated that the supplier also designated the interior design company to be contracted by the distributor (although in many such cases the supplier also bore part of the expenses). Pricing to distributors vs. online retail price: 84.2% of respondents said the suppliers’ online retail price was equal to or lower than the supply price to the responding distributors. Paint Resale price maintenance: 58.7% of respondents indicated having experienced resale price maintenance. Home appliance Method of selecting interior design company for points of sale: 66.4% of respondents indicated that the supplier designated the interior design company to be contracted by the distributor for improvements to points of sale (although in many such cases the supplier also bore part of the related expenses). Petroleum products Pricing to distributors vs. online retail price: 100% of respondents in this industry said the suppliers’ online retail price was equal to or lower than their supply price to distributors. [Korean Version]
2023.01.05

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KFTC Announces Plan to Reform Merger Filing and Review Regime The Korea Fair Trade Commission (“KFTC”) announced its latest plan to reform the merger filing and review regime (“Reform Plan”) through legislative amendments that will (i) expand the scope of exemptions from merger notification requirement, (ii) require the KFTC’s official notification of reasons for review period extension, and (iii) enable companies to submit voluntary commitments as remedies and obtain conditional clearance for anti-competitive mergers. The Reform Plan reflects the short-term tasks included in the recommendations of the Merger Control Reform Task Force (“TF Recommendations”), which also include a number of mid- to long-term tasks for enhancing the merger filing and review regime in line with global standards. Though not included in the current Reform Plan, the KFTC noted that it will continue discussions on implementation of those tasks as well going forward. The KFTC plans to issue an advance notice for the proposed amendments contained in the Reform Plan in early 2023, and submit a draft bill to the National Assembly during the first half of 2023. The KFTC will also conduct research on necessary amendments to subordinate laws. Key details of the KFTC’s current Reform Plan and other long-term goals included in the TF Recommendations are as follows. Reform Plan A. Expand scope of exemptions from merger notification requirement The KFTC will expand the scope of exemptions from merger notification requirement to include the following types of transactions. This is expected to lower the number of reported cases by about 40% compared to 2021. Inter-affiliate mergers: Statutory mergers/consolidations and business transfers involving two companies where one already has sole control over the other through a direct shareholding of at least 50% will be exempt from the merger notification requirement. Currently, in recognition of their lack of anti-competitive concerns, inter-affiliate statutory mergers/consolidations and business transfers are eligible for the expedited simplified review process. Esblishment of PEFs: Establishment of PEFs will be exempt from the merger notification requirement as they have no substantive impact on competition at the time of establishment. In recognition of the need to review participation in PEFs by strategic investors, however, a PEF’s acquisition of target companies will not be exempt from filings and the parties will have to submit detailed information about the transaction if a filing is required. Interlocking directorships of less than 1/3: As interlocking directorships of less than 1/3 (excluding the representative director) do not enable one company to exercise substantive influence on major decisions of the other, they will be exempt from the merger notification requirement. B. Require the KFTC’s official notification of reasons for review period extension To enhance transparency of review results and predictability, the KFTC will improve its merger review procedures by requiring the case handler who intends to extend the review period, to officially notify the filing party of reasons for such extension (e.g., potential anti-competitive concerns). This is expected to help companies swiftly decide whether to submit voluntary commitments to address those anti-competitive concerns. C. Allow companies to submit voluntary commitments as remedies and obtain conditional clearance To enable swift and effective review of anti-competitive mergers, the KFTC will introduce a new system for allowing companies to submit voluntary commitments as remedies to address anti-competitive concerns during the review process. Further, if the KFTC concludes that the proposed remedies are appropriate and sufficient for addressing the anti-competitive concerns, the KFTC will clear the transaction on condition that those remedies are implemented, rather than imposing corrective orders. To encourage companies to actively submit the most effective remedies, the KFTC will also introduce an expedited process for concluding its review through a small-committee hearing (excluding transactions that could have a significant impact on society or involve multiple issues, which will continue to be deliberated through full-committee hearings). By doing so, the KFTC expects to encourage more companies to submit a highly effective and feasible list of voluntary remedies, which would both address anti-competitive concerns in a timely manner and raise the efficiency of its merger review process. Other Long-Term Goals A. Introduce a dual-phase merger review system In the long term, the TF Recommendations ask the KFTC to consider a legislative package necessary for introducing a dual-phase merger review system similar to the system in the US and EU, where an in-depth Phase 2 review is only initiated for contentious transactions. The recommended legislative package contains changes necessary for establishing a more sophisticated review procedure that will ensure the separation of the two phases. B. Introduce universal pre-closing filing requirement and enhancement of Merger Filing Guidelines To enhance the effectiveness of merger regulations in line with global standards, the TF Recommendations recognize the need for universally requiring pre-closing filings for all transactions, but suggest that this should be carried out on a long-term basis as it could increase the burden on companies and even now only 30% of reported transactions are eligible for post-closing filings. The TF Recommendations also suggest that the KFTC raise the merger filing thresholds in consideration of the growing economy, and expand the scope mergers that would be reportable under the size-of-transaction test.
2022.12.30

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Key HR/Labor Law Amendments for 2023 The following are updates on key HR/labor law amendments that companies should take note of now and in 2023. The scope of protection under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (“Act”) has been expanded for employees engaged in special types of employment (Effective as of July 1, 2023) Currently, employees who are engaged in special types of employment are protected under industrial accident compensation insurance only when they undertake work “exclusively” for one business. Accordingly, when an employee works for multiple businesses through online platforms, etc., he/she has not been covered by such insurance. To protect these employees, the exclusiveness requirement has been revoked and an employee who provides work-labor to multiple businesses through online platforms, etc. will be legally covered in case of an industrial accident. Related amendments to the Act on the Collection of Insurance Premiums for Employment Insurance And Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance (Effective as of July 1, 2023) A business owner-employer and an employee engaged in special types of employment will each bear 50% of the premiums for industrial accident compensation insurance. In case of certain occupations prescribed by the Presidential Decree, which is determined in consideration of the subordinate relationship between an owner-employer and an employee engaged in special types of employment, the owner-employer will bear the full amount of the insurance premiums. Special requirements will be imposed on “platform operators” as defined by the Act: platform operators will be responsible for administrated tasks related to industrial accident compensation insurance, such as reporting monthly remuneration, withholding industrial accident insurance premiums, and opening accounts for withholding and paying out industrial accident insurance premiums. A child who suffers from a health issue or dies due to an industrial accident involving the pregnant mother will be protected by the Act (Effective as of January 12, 2023) Where a pregnant employee’s newborn child suffers from injury, illness, or disability or dies due to an industrial accident involving the employee-mother, an accident during commuting to or from work, or handling of or exposure to harmful factors in the course of performing her duties, these cases will be acknowledged as an occupational accident in line with Korean case law. Such children with health issues will be covered under the Act as if the child was an employee of the business the pregnant employee belongs to and will be entitled to medical care benefits, disability benefits, personal care benefits, a funeral subsidy and occupational rehabilitation benefits. The minimum hourly wage for 2023 will be KRW 9,620 The 2023 minimum hourly wage is increased by KRW 460 compared to the 2022 minimum wage of KRW 9,160. Regular bonuses exceeding 5% of and cash welfare benefits exceeding 1% of the monthly calculated sum (KRW 2,010,580 based on 209 hours) of the 2023 minimum hourly wage (KRW 9,620) will be included in the calculation of minimum wage (this is part of the phased expansion of the application of such payments to the minimum wage calculation from 2019 to 2024). Increase of the non-taxable cap for meal allowances (Effective as of January 1, 2023) With the amendment of the Income Tax Act, the non-taxable cap for a meal allowance will be increased from KRW 100,000 to KRW 200,000 per month. In addition, the following are key changes to HR/Labor laws that took effect in the second half of this year: Strengthening representation of employee representatives (Effective as of December 11, 2022) Starting from December 11, 2022, where there is no labor union in a company representing a majority of the employees, the employee representatives will be elected by said majority of the employees via direct, secret, and anonymous votes. Indirect elections may be held when a direct election is infeasible/impractical due to the peculiarities of the relevant business. In such case, a majority of employees will elect delegates in proportion to the number of employees by department via direct, secret, and anonymous ballots, and a majority of the delegates will in turn elect employee representatives by direct, secret, and anonymous ballots. Previously, an employee needed recommendations from ten employees of the business or workplace to run for a position of employee representative. After the amendment, any employee may run for this position without such recommendation. Administrative fine to be imposed on business places not cooperating with the fact-finding survey on the status of workplace child care centers (Effective as of December 11, 2022) Under the Child Care Act, an owner-employer who runs a workplace of a certain size, as prescribed by the Presidential Decree, has an obligation to establish workplace child care centers or to provide entrusted child care services. The Ministry of Health and Welfare conducts an annual fact-finding survey as to whether the applicable owner-employer have established workplace child care centers, and unless there are special circumstances, such owner-employers not cooperating with fact-finding survey may be subject to an administrative fine not exceeding KRW 100 million. Requirement to establish rest areas (Effective as of August 18, 2022) An owner-employer’s obligation to establish rest areas under the Occupational Safety and Health Act has become compulsory. Accordingly, in certain types of business places, as determined by the Presidential Decree based on the type of business and the number of regular employees, rest areas must be established in accordance with guidelines provided under the decree of the Ministry of Employment and Labor (the “MOEL”). In case of a violation, an administrative fine not exceeding KRW 15 million may be imposed for not establishing rest areas, and an administrative fine not exceeding KRW 10 million may be imposed for not complying with the standards set forth in the decree of the MOEL. Where employees of a subcontracting company (subcontracted workers) perform work at the business place of a principal company, an administrative fine not exceeding KRW 15 million may be imposed on a principal company if a principal company does not provide places that are necessary for a subcontracting company to install the facilities, as determined by the decree of the MOEL or interferes with subcontracted workers’ use of rest areas. Introduction of default option for management of retirement pensions (Effective as of July 12, 2022) Under the Employee Retirement Pension Security Act, a default option for management of one’s retirement pension has been introduced so that where a participant of the defined contribution retirement pension does not provide investment direction within the prescribed period, a retirement pension provider manages retirement pensions in the method designated in advance by employees through a labor-management agreement. [Korean Version]
2022.12.28

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Opening of Kim & Chang’s Hanoi (Vietnam) Office

Following the opening of Kim & Chang’s first Vietnam office in Ho Chi Minh City Kim in 2018, we have opened our second Vietnam office in Hanoi in December 2022 in order to provide leading legal services in close proximity to our clients.
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Metaverse, Blockchain & Digital Assets

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