Hyeon Deog CHO - Kim & Chang

Bio

Hyeon Deog Cho is an attorney at Kim & Chang practicing in the areas of M&A, banking, corporate governance, insolvency and restructuring, and white collar criminal defense.

Mr. Cho’s practice especially focuses on corporate governance, corporate transformation, financial holding companies and general holding companies, corporate and capital market transactions, corporate restructuring and insolvency including spin-off and split-off, distressed M&As, and acquisition financing. He also has extensive experience in white collar criminal defense.

Prior to joining the firm in 2004, Mr. Cho conducted and published various key researches in the international business and business strategy fields. He also has extensive experience as a lecturer at various graduate schools, including Seoul National University where he lectured in international business strategy and multinational business administration. Further, he has worked as the head of the Business Case Center and as the vice president of the Institute for Industrial Policy Studies under the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, conducting researches and business case studies.

In addition to his experiences in Korea, Mr. Cho completed an international lawyer program at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP’s New York office in 2009 and 2010.

Mr. Cho earned his B.A. (1990), M.B.A. (1992) and Ph.D. (1999) in business administration (with specialization in international business and business strategy) from Seoul National University, and received his LL.M. from Boston University School of Law in 2009. He is admitted to the Korean bar.

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Profile

Experience

Kim & Chang (2004-Present)

Member, Legal Advisory Committee, Ministry of Justice (2021-2023)

Member, Professional Field Examination Subcommittee (Corporate Law), Korean Bar Association (2016-2021)

Advisory Committee Member, Financial Center Promotion Committee, Financial Services Commission (2016-2021)

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, New York (2009-2010)

Lecturer, Graduate School of Business Administration, Seoul National University (International Business Strategy, 1999.9.-1999.12., Implementation of Business Strategy, 2001.9.-2001.12.)

Research Director/ Head of Business Case Center/ Vice President, The Institute for Industrial Policy Studies (1999-2000)

Management Consultant, IBS Company (1992-1994)

Representative Activitiesshow

Awards

Lexology In-Depth: Shareholder Rights and Activism (Edition 4-11): Korea Chapter (Co-author, Law Business Research, 2019-2026)
Chambers Global Practice Guides - Shareholders’ Rights & Shareholder Activism 2022-2025: Korea Chapter (Co-author, Chambers and Partners, 2022-2025)
Speaker, "Corporate Group Management: Institution·Reality·Directivity,” 2020 The Bell Next Corporate Governance Conference (2020.9.)
The Corporate Governance Review (Edition 9, 10, 11, 12): Korea Chapter (Co-author, Law Business Research, 2019-2022)
Speaker, “Corporate Governance of Korean Companies and the Appearance of Shareholder Activism,” 2019 The Bell M&A Forum (2019.7.)
The Legal 500 - Corporate Governance Country Comparative Guide (Edition 1-2): Korea Chapter (Co-author, Legalease, 2019-2020)
Speaker, “Corporate Governance and Capital Markets,” The NEXT Corporate Governance Conference (2018.9.)
Practice and Issues on Corporate Split Ratio, BFL Volume No. 49 (Center for Financial Law of Seoul National University, 2011.9.)
Speaker, “Amendment of the Korean Fair Trade Law: Corporate Restructuring, Transformation to and Operation of the Holding Company,” 2011 The Bell IB Forum (2011.9.)
International Cooperative Strategies, Local Partner’s Traits and the Performance of IJVs: Institutional Specificities, Transaction Governance, and Organizational Mechanism (Doctoral dissertation, Seoul National University, 1999)
The Impact of the Traits of Local Partner Firms on International Joint Venture’s Performance: The Analysis of 117 IJVs in South Korea (Co-author, presentation at US Academy of Management in Chicago, 1999)
Comparison of Competitiveness of Korean GTCs and Japanese GTCs in Korean Market, Journal of International Business Research, Vol. 3 (Co-author, 1992.8.)
Transforming Structure of the General Trading Company: Comparison of Korean GTCs and Japanese GTCs (Master’s degree thesis, Seoul National University, 1992)
Interesting Cases of Management III, Seoul Economy and Management Press (Co-author, 1992)
Interesting Cases of Management II, Seoul Economy and Management Press (Co-author, 1991)

Publications/Activities

Lexology In-Depth: Shareholder Rights and Activism (Edition 10): Korea Chapter (Co-author, Law Business Research, 2025)
Chambers Global Practice Guides - Shareholders’ Rights & Shareholder Activism 2022-2025: Korea Chapter (Co-author, Chambers and Partners, 2022-2025)
Speaker, "Corporate Group Management: Institution·Reality·Directivity,” 2020 The Bell Next Corporate Governance Conference (2020.9.)
The Corporate Governance Review (Edition 9, 10, 11, 12): Korea Chapter (Co-author, Law Business Research, 2019-2022)
The Shareholder Rights and Activism Review (Edition 4-9): Korea Chapter (Co-author, Law Business Research, 2019-2024)
Speaker, “Corporate Governance of Korean Companies and the Appearance of Shareholder Activism,” 2019 The Bell M&A Forum (2019.7.)
The Legal 500 - Corporate Governance Country Comparative Guide (Edition 1-2): Korea Chapter (Co-author, Legalease, 2019-2020)
Speaker, “Corporate Governance and Capital Markets,” The NEXT Corporate Governance Conference (2018.9.)
Practice and Issues on Corporate Split Ratio, BFL Volume No. 49 (Center for Financial Law of Seoul National University, 2011.9.)
Speaker, “Amendment of the Korean Fair Trade Law: Corporate Restructuring, Transformation to and Operation of the Holding Company,” 2011 The Bell IB Forum (2011.9.)
International Cooperative Strategies, Local Partner’s Traits and the Performance of IJVs: Institutional Specificities, Transaction Governance, and Organizational Mechanism (Doctoral dissertation, Seoul National University, 1999)
The Impact of the Traits of Local Partner Firms on International Joint Venture’s Performance: The Analysis of 117 IJVs in South Korea (Co-author, presentation at US Academy of Management in Chicago, 1999)
Comparison of Competitiveness of Korean GTCs and Japanese GTCs in Korean Market, Journal of International Business Research, Vol. 3 (Co-author, 1992.8.)
Transforming Structure of the General Trading Company: Comparison of Korean GTCs and Japanese GTCs (Master’s degree thesis, Seoul National University, 1992)
Interesting Cases of Management III, Seoul Economy and Management Press (Co-author, 1992)
Interesting Cases of Management II, Seoul Economy and Management Press (Co-author, 1991)