Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam (collectively, “Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam”) together form one of Korea’s leading industrial and economic hubs. Busan is a center for finance, logistics, and shipping. Ulsan, Korea’s largest manufacturing city, is home to a dense concentration of shipbuilding, automotive, and petrochemical businesses. Gyeongnam is a hub for the defense, aerospace, nuclear power, and machinery industries, and plays a key role in Korea’s strategic industries.
Unlike the Seoul Metropolitan Area, Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam is not defined by a concentration of major corporate headquarters. Instead, its strength lies in its role as a critical production base for Korea’s manufacturing and export industries and in the depth of the industrial ecosystem that supports the nation’s competitiveness. As strategic national industries, including shipbuilding, defense, automotive, energy, and aerospace, continue to cluster across the region, companies are facing legal and business challenges of increasing complexity.
Companies today require specialized and integrated legal support across a broad range of areas, including serious accident response, labor and employment, antitrust and competition matters (including subcontracting), international trade, supply chain management, M&A, IPOs, business succession, compliance, and white-collar criminal defense. Regional companies, however, have often had to choose between the depth of expertise offered by major Seoul-based law firms and the locally tailored legal services offered by regional counsel.
To address these limitations, Jipyong has established the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam Center. Built around the firm’s Busan office, which is staffed by 13 attorneys, the Center directly connects clients in the region with the expertise and resources of more than 400 professionals at Jipyong’s Seoul headquarters. As an integrated platform, it enables companies in Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam to receive comprehensive, Seoul-caliber legal services with greater speed and efficiency.
Through the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam Center, Jipyong aims to be more than a provider of legal services. The firm seeks to serve as a strategic partner to regional companies as they pursue growth and long-term resilience. Jipyong also aims for the Center to grow alongside the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam industrial ecosystem and contribute to the continued development of Korea’s industrial economy.
Key Practice Areas Close
- Corporate and M&A
Legal support across the full corporate growth cycle, including company formation, corporate governance, capital raising, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity (PE), corporate restructuring, and management control disputes - Banking and Finance
Specialized support across the financial sector, including project finance (PF) in connection with development projects such as the Gadeokdo New Airport and North Port development projects, financial regulation, restructuring, real estate finance, maritime finance, investment transactions, and financial disputes - Labor and Employment
Comprehensive support for managing workforce and labor risks, including personnel and labor management, collective bargaining, labor-management disputes, Labor Relations Commission proceedings, occupational safety, and workplace harassment investigations - Serious Accidents
Specialized services for manufacturing plants, construction sites, and other high-risk operational settings, including Serious Accidents Punishment Act compliance and enforcement matters, occupational safety and health system design, accident prevention advice, investigation response, and representation in court proceedings - Subcontracting and Antitrust/Competition
Support for competition law risk management and regulatory compliance in connection with subcontracting, distribution and franchise arrangements, labeling and advertising, and the establishment and operation of fair trade compliance programs - Maritime and Logistics
Specialized legal services tailored to the shipping and logistics industries centered on the Ports of Busan and Ulsan, including maritime transportation, ship finance, shipbuilding and vessel construction, maritime insurance, port development, logistics contracts, international transportation, maritime accidents, and maritime disputes - International Transactions and Dispute Resolution
Legal services across the full spectrum of cross-border business, including international contracts, overseas investment, import and export transactions, international dispute resolution and arbitration, and advisory services for companies expanding overseas - International Trade
Support for corporate response strategies in a rapidly changing global trade environment, including shifts in U.S. and EU trade policies, tariffs and trade remedies, export controls, economic sanctions, supply chain regulations, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), and free trade agreements (FTAs) - Compliance and Sustainability
Support for strengthening corporate compliance and sustainability capabilities, including the establishment of compliance control systems, ESG management, human rights management, anti-corruption measures, supply chain due diligence, sustainability disclosures, and governance frameworks - Corporate Growth and Succession
Support for the long-term growth of mid-sized companies, including family business succession, management succession, corporate governance restructuring, controlling shareholder risk management, tax and asset succession planning, IPO preparation, and capital raising - IPO and Capital Markets
Capital markets services, including initial public offerings (IPOs), disclosure and capital markets regulation, corporate governance consulting for listed companies, capital raising and M&A, and advisory on maintaining listed status and responding to delisting reviews - Defense Industry
Specialized legal services for defense industry companies, including defense contracts, defense exports, defense procurement, technology protection, export controls, and defense industry compliance - Arctic Shipping Routes
Legal services in emerging maritime sectors, including international legal regimes relating to the development of Arctic shipping routes, maritime transportation, logistics and ports, ship finance, insurance, environmental regulation, and regulatory compliance - IP and Technology
IP-related legal services covering patents, trademarks, trade secrets, technology transfer and related transactions, license agreements, and intellectual property disputes. Advice on regulatory, contractual, and dispute matters involving technology law, artificial intelligence (AI), data, and advanced technologies, with a focus on the industries of Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam, to help companies strengthen their technological competitiveness and protect their technology assets - Criminal Defense
Crisis management support for companies, including corporate criminal matters, financial crimes, industrial technology leakage, criminal matters involving serious accidents, investigation response, internal investigations, and criminal litigation involving corporate issues - Public Policy and Government Relations
Support for public policy and government relations matters, including analysis of legislative and policy developments in the government and National Assembly, regulatory response, policy proposals, engagement with public institutions, and stakeholder communications
The Jipyong Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam Center provides comprehensive legal services through a “One Team” model that brings together the firm’s Seoul headquarters and Busan office to address the wide range of business and legal issues that companies face in Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam.
