YK sets its sights on the Middle East, opening its first overseas branch offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai

[Financial News] “The opening of these overseas branch offices is an important starting point for connecting our experience gained in the Middle East with YK’s domestic legal service capabilities.”
Law Firm YK has opened its first overseas branch offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and is setting out to make inroads into the Middle Eastern legal market. The plan is to strengthen its international legal service capabilities by supporting Korean companies’ local operations while also expanding its advisory services to cover foreign companies and investors entering Korea.
YK announced on the 5th that it had held opening ceremonies for its branch offices in Abu Dhabi on the 2nd and Dubai on the 3rd, respectively. YK representatives attending the events included managing partners Kim Beom-han, Kwon Sun-il and Chu Won-sik, as well as Kim Hyun-jong, the managing partner overseeing the Overseas Business Group. Lee Won-ik, South Korea’s ambassador to the UAE, attended the Abu Dhabi ceremony, while Park Jong-kyung, South Korea’s consul general in Dubai, attended the Dubai event.

The overseas expansion is being pursued through a division of legal advisory work tailored to the industrial characteristics of the two cities. In Abu Dhabi, where large-scale government-led development projects are concentrated, the firm will advise companies primarily in nuclear power, defense, energy and infrastructure. Key areas of work include legal issues arising in bidding for and securing contracts for projects commissioned by state-owned enterprises, transactions involving sovereign wealth funds and attracting investment.
In Dubai, a hub for international trade and finance, the firm will focus on establishing and operating regional headquarters for multinational companies, financial and investment transactions, commercial agency agreements, and international arbitration. The two branch offices will coordinate their responses as needed and plan to expand their legal services to other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The local offices will be run by attorneys with practical experience in the Middle East. Attorney Kim Tae-eun has been appointed head of the Abu Dhabi branch office. Kim, who is qualified as both an attorney and a tax accountant, has handled corporate legal affairs, overseas investment, company formation and regulatory matters, including as in-house counsel at TMF Group Korea and as a partner at a Korean law firm. Kim also has experience advising on company formation and investment in the UAE.
Attorney Yang Hyo-kyung will lead the Dubai branch office. Yang has worked at Bae, Kim & Lee’s Dubai office and the local law firm Matouk Bassiouny, and provided legal advice to the Korea Creative Content Agency’s UAE overseas promotion office. Yang has handled contract and corporate legal advisory work, as well as litigation management, for Korean companies operating in the Middle East.
The overall overseas business will be overseen by Kim Hyun-jong, the managing partner heading the Overseas Business Group, who joined YK last September. Kim is a Middle East legal expert who was based in Dubai for about 17 years, handling corporate advisory work and international disputes. Kim previously headed the legal team at LG Electronics’ Middle East and Africa regional headquarters and was the first head of Bae, Kim & Lee’s Dubai office, then went on to establish and run a law firm specializing in the Middle East and Africa.

YK has also established a collaborative system centered on its Overseas Business Group, linking its domestic head office with local branch offices and specialist centers. In Seoul, partner attorney Hong Jin-ho handles the intake of overseas cases and coordinates the work, while the local offices handle practical matters such as legal reviews and client relations. Domestic specialist centers are brought in when a matter requires in-depth review in areas such as corporate law, tax or labor.
Cases requiring local authorization to represent clients in court will be handled jointly with partner law firms. The firm says this will reduce the burden on clients of having to contact multiple law firms at home and abroad individually, allowing them to seek advice and respond to overseas legal issues through a single point of contact.
Key areas of advice include overseas company formation and mergers and acquisitions (M&A), construction and infrastructure projects, international arbitration, regulatory compliance, human resources and labor, and taxation. The firm also plans to address legal issues that can easily lead to disputes during local business operations, including termination of commercial agency agreements, collection of outstanding receivables, bidding eligibility and localization requirements, and civil and criminal matters arising from construction site accidents.

Following its expansion into the Middle East, YK is also preparing to enter Central Asia. The firm plans to open an additional branch office in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, with Kim Deok, a Russian attorney and expert in Russian and Central Asian law, at the helm. YK plans to build on this to expand its work into Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan, among other countries, and establish the Silk Road Legal Network, a partnership network with local law firms.
Managing partner Kim Hyun-jong emphasized, “We will provide legal services tailored to the regional characteristics of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and actively address legal issues arising not only as Korean companies expand overseas but also as foreign companies enter Korea.”
[email protected] Yoo Seon-jun Reporter