Weon Jung KIM - Kim & Chang

Bio

Weon Jung Kim is an attorney at Kim & Chang. He practices primarily in labor and employment matter.

Mr. Kim has extensive experience, spanning over 30 years, in representing clients in all areas of employment and labor law. His specialty is in litigation and dispute resolution of employment and labor law issues before the court, Labor Relations Commission, labor office, and Human Rights Commission. In addition, Mr. Kim has substantial experience in dealing with industrial relations, collective bargaining and advising on labor-management council issues, and maintaining competitiveness for corporate clients in the marketplace. Mr. Kim routinely advises his multinational corporate clients on the labor/employment implications of cross-border transactions, ranging from mergers and acquisitions, post-merger HR integration planning, reductions-in-force and restructuring issues.

Mr. Kim has also played a key role in helping government authorities, including the Ministry of Labor and employment and Labor Relations Commission, to establish and further develop major areas of legislation or practices of Korean labor and employment law. Mr. Kim has directly influenced the development of Korean employment and labor laws in his capacity as advisor to the Ministry of Labor and employment in assessing and evaluating policies and authoritative interpretations of laws and regulations.

Prior to joining Kim & Chang, Mr. Kim worked as a judge advocate of Republic of Korea Army. He also participated in Foreign Lawyer Internship Program at Law Office of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker. Since 2010, he has served as a legal counsel of the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

Mr. Kim earned his LL.B. from Seoul National University and his LL.M. from School of Law, Columbia University. He also attended the Judicial Research and Training Institute of the Supreme Court of Korea. He is admitted to the Korea bar.

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Profile

Experience

Legal Counsel, The Ministry of Labor (2010.1.-Present)

Kim & Chang (1986.9.-Present)

Foreign Lawyer Internship Program at Law Office of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (1992-1993)

Judge Advocate, Republic of Korea Army (1983-1986)

Representative Mattersshow

Advised an auto maker in assessing the level of risk and exposure arising out of possible violation of the Korean labor laws regarding working hours.
Successfully defended a shipbuilding company which implemented layoffs in the wrongful termination case.
Advised a bank on implementation of performance improvement plan (PIP) and successfully defended the bank in a preliminary injunction case filed by the labor union claiming the company’s PIP is null and void.
Advised pharmaceutical companies in implementing a restructuring and turnaround program.
Successfully defended an auto maker in a lawsuit for potential damages over KRW 70 billion involving more than 1,000 employees who alleged that the calculation of their ordinary wage was not in compliance with the law.
Successfully defended a bank at the Supreme Court in a massive early separation case.
Advised Korean company’s overseas M&A in relation to HR and labor union matters on a global basis.

Representative Activitiesshow

Awards

The A-List: Korea’s Top Lawyers, Asia Business Law Journal (Vantage Asia, 2024-2025)
Stand-out Lawyer - Independently Rated Lawyers (Thomson Reuters, 2022-2024)
Leading Individual, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific: Labour & Employment (Legalease, 2021-2024)
Litigation Star, Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific: Labour and employment (Euromoney, 2023)
Leading Lawyer, Asialaw Leading Lawyers: Labour and Employment (Euromoney, 2020-2023)
Leading Lawyer, Lexology Index: Korea, Labour & Employment (Lexology Index, 2019-2022, 2025)
Leading Lawyer, Lexology Index: Employment & Labor (Lexology Index, 2019, 2025)
Leading Individual, Chambers Asia-Pacific, Employment (Chambers and Partners, 2017-2025)

Publications/Activities

The Executive Remuneration Review (Edition 3): Korea Chapter (Co-author, Law Business Research, 2014)
PLC Employment and Employee Benefits Guide: Korea Chapter (Co-author, Practical Law Company, 2013)
Legal and Practice Issues in HR and Labor Relations in Overseas M&A context (Korea International Trade Law Association, 2011)