Press

A man who stole billions of won from investors by promising guaranteed profits was sentenced to prison. According to the legal community on the 2nd, the 12th Criminal Division of the Seoul Eastern District Court recently sentenced Mr. A, the CEO of the company, who was indicted on charges of fraud, to 3 years and 6 months in prison. Mr. A was indicted on charges of embezzling about 2.8 billion won from 16 investors, including Mr. B, by promising guaranteed principal and interest payments over the past five years since 2018. In the process, some It was found that he had demanded additional money from the victims, saying, "There was a problem with the investment product." As a result of the investigation, it was revealed that Mr. A used the money he received from investors to invest in individual stocks and futures, then secured new investors and paid interest to existing members. Mr. A admitted most of the charges, but denied fraud against Mr. B, one of the victims. The investment contract with Mr. B was conducted by an employee of the company he ran. It was an argument that he had never met Mr. B in person. The court did not accept Mr. A's claim. The court said, "Mr. B entered into a contract based on the investment contract written by the defendant. Even if the defendant did not directly recommend investment, it seems likely that a report would have been made at the time the contract was concluded, considering the status of the defendant and the employee," adding, "The money deposited by Mr. He stated the reason for the sentencing, saying, "The victims have suffered for a considerable period of time by stealing money from many victims without the intention or ability to return the money." Attorney Park Seong-dong of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. B, said, "The crime of fraud must be judged generally and objectively, taking into account the specific circumstances at the time of the crime, such as the circumstances of the transaction. At the time of the incident, Mr. A was managing all accounts in the name of the company and fully managing the investment funds. “It appears that they have decided that it is acceptable,” he explained. Jeong Eui-jin (jej88@ikbc.co.kr)[View full article] Stealing 2.8 billion won by deceiving “guaranteed profits” and receiving 3 years and 6 months in prison (link)

Daeryun Law Firm announced on the 28th that it has established a psychological counseling center to support clients' emotional recovery and return to daily life. The purpose is to provide an integrated solution that goes beyond legal support to psychological stability and healing. While communicating with clients, Daeryun noted that legal disputes cause great psychological shock and pain throughout life. We judged that it was necessary to redefine the role of law firms in that when ordinary people become involved in legal disputes, they can experience great anxiety, stress, and even long-term trauma, and that it also affects their daily lives, interpersonal relationships, and livelihoods. Accordingly, we established a psychological counseling center and established a foundation for receiving psychological treatment from professional counselors. The members of the psychological counseling center are comprised of professionally qualified psychological counselors recognized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare or psychotherapy-related academic societies. The psychological counseling center provides customized treatment to relieve psychological wounds arising from various incidents such as civil and criminal cases, school violence, and industrial accidents and to help clients return to their daily lives more stably. Main counseling topics are ▲divorce, trauma healing due to conflicts within the family ▲psychological treatment related to legal disputes for children and adolescents ▲crime. We support psychological recovery in a wide range of areas related to legal disputes, including trauma recovery for victims and education to prevent recidivism for defendants ▲ psychological recovery after industrial accidents and medical accidents ▲ response to gambling, drug, and drinking addictions ▲ school and workplace adaptation problems and stress management. Counseling is conducted based on a professional psychotherapy process, including psychological testing, one-on-one interpretation counseling, and counseling goal setting that takes into account the client's main complaint. Depending on the request of the client, both face-to-face and non-face-to-face counseling are available. If the client requests it, the psychological evaluation report issued during the treatment process can also be used as materials that are practically helpful in carrying out the case, such as severe punishment petition materials, sentencing materials, and education materials to prevent recidivism. Kim Kuk-il, CEO of Daeryun Management, said, "Legal services are about dealing with people's minds beyond simple legal advice. Through the psychological counseling center, we are setting a new standard for law firms that are responsible for the psychological recovery of clients who face difficult situations. “I will present it,” he said. Meanwhile, Daeryun Law Firm is providing customer-centered legal services, recording a 98% positive response in a previous customer satisfaction survey. Reporter Jeong Cheol-wook[View full article] Seoul Shinmun - Daeryun Law Firm establishes psychological counseling center... “Support from legal assistance to recovery of daily life” (Shortcut) Tax and Finance News - Establishment of Daeryun Psychological Counseling Center, psychological stability and healing service for clients (link)

Daeryun Law Firm announced on the 2nd that it signed a business agreement with the Seongnam City Academy Association on the 27th of last month to eradicate illegal private education. The Seongnam City Academies Association is an organization with a total of 2,000 members, including academy directors in the Seongnam region, and protects the rights and interests of member academies and represents their opinions. Through this agreement, Daeryun plans to provide professional legal services to crack down on illegal and illegal private tutoring regulations, including ▲advising on academy-related laws and system improvement, △reviewing legal issues such as academy operation, and ▲responding in case of disputes. Park Yoo-seo, president of the Seongnam City Academy Association, said, “In order to establish a healthy private education culture, we will declare war on illegal and illegal private tutoring rooms and conduct an intensive prevention campaign against illegal private tutoring classes, etc.” He added, “In addition, we hope for professional legal support from Daeryun so that illegal private tutoring classes can be eradicated.” Representative attorney Daeryun Park Seong-dong said, “The two companies plan to expand their cooperative relationship through continuous exchanges,” and added, “We will provide maximum support at the law firm level to reduce illegal private education cartels and irrationality so that a healthy private education culture can be established.”[View full article] Daeryun Law Firm and Seongnam City Academy Association join hands to eradicate illegal private education (Go here)

Collaboration such as legal consultation and legal education support to recover from infringement on teaching rights. Representative Kim Kuk-il: “We will provide necessary legal support both on and off campus.” Daeryun Law Firm signed an MOU with the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations (KFTA) to take the lead in protecting teachers’ rights and interests and improving the education system. At the agreement ceremony held at the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations on the 29th of last month, Daeryun CEO Kim Kuk-il, Vice President Choi Yi-sun, lawyer Heo Ji-seon and Korean Federation of Teachers’ Federation President Kang Joo-ho, Key working-level staff, including Policy Director Cho Seong-cheol, Director Kim Dong-seok, and Secretary General Moon Kwon-guk, attended. The Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations was founded in 1947 as the ‘Joseon Education Association’ and is an organization whose members include teachers and educational administrators at all levels of education, including teachers at kindergartens, elementary, middle, high schools, and universities. △ It boasts the largest scale among domestic teacher organizations by working for the purposes of △ increasing the professionalism of teachers △ improving social and economic status △ protecting teaching rights. Based on their respective strengths, the two companies plan to cooperate in tasks such as △ legal consultation to recover from infringement on teaching rights △ legal advice such as legislation and requests for legal interpretation △ legal education support for students and teachers △ promotion and entrustment of joint research on teaching rights. Kang Joo-ho, Federation of Teachers of Korea The Chairman said, “I am pleased that through this agreement, we have prepared practical measures to create an environment in which teachers can focus on their primary role in education.” He added, “We will resolve issues that may arise in various disputes through organic cooperation with Daeryun, a global mega law firm.” Kim Kuk-il, CEO of Daeryun, said, “Under the recognition that an educational environment in which teachers are respected will guarantee the quality of education, we will faithfully fulfill our role as a partner in realizing public value in the education world with this agreement as an opportunity.” “The Daeryun School Violence Group has many lawyers with diverse experiences, including juvenile crime department prosecutors, education office disciplinary committee members, and lawyers with full teacher qualifications, so we can minimize risks by preemptively providing necessary legal advice both on and off campus,” he said. Meanwhile, both organizations plan to continue to expand their close cooperation system to fulfill their joint responsibilities in expanding teaching rights, improving systems, protecting teachers’ rights and interests, and responding to education policies, based on convergent cooperation in the fields of education and law.[View full article] Sejeong Ilbo - Daeryun Law Firm and the Federation of Korean Teachers and Education Associations sign an ‘MOU’ to prevent infringement on teaching rights (link) Tax and Finance News - Daeryun Law Firm and the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations... Academic Rights Protection Business Agreement (Shortcut)

At one time, the bar exam was a representative ‘admission gate’ in our society. This is because, without any special background, he was able to enter the legal profession based solely on his skills. This system was not perfect, but at least there was a time when it made the saying, “Risks fly in the face” a reality. It has already been 17 years since the law school system was introduced. At the time, this system was launched with the goal of resolving the problem of ‘failure to pass the civil service examination’ and training legal professionals with practical skills and diversity. The author is also one of those who positively evaluated the abolition of the bar exam. This is because they were clearly aware of the problems with the unrealistic exam environment and inefficient talent selection methods, and they also recognized the need for system reform. However, as time passes, a deep gap is widening between the ideals of the system and the reality. On the surface, law school appears to be a system open to anyone, but in reality, the starting line is different. As of 2025, more than 80% of accepted students at 22 of the 25 law schools nationwide are from universities in the metropolitan area, and more than half are from so-called SKY universities. Only 5% of students graduated from local universities. This is where the gap between formal openness and practical entry barriers is clearly revealed. Furthermore, law schools are gradually losing their original purpose of ‘cultivating professional lawyers with diverse backgrounds and experiences.’ Education is gradually degenerating into an ‘academy-type structure’ aimed only at passing the bar exam, and practice-oriented or convergence-type education has virtually been pushed to the back burner. Some students are attempting to transfer to law schools in the metropolitan area or taking repeated leave of absence to increase their passing rates, and the number of cases of preparing for the exam at private academies is also increasing. As a result, the law school system is becoming more and more ‘publicized,’ and is actually returning to a structure that repeats the ills of the past bar exam. This institutional distortion, combined with the structural limitations of the legal market, is creating bigger problems. The legal market is unable to expand, and as the number of legal professionals with uniform backgrounds and ways of thinking increases, a closed structure in which they compete for limited opportunities is becoming entrenched. This not only hinders the diversity and creativity of the legal profession, but also has a negative impact on the quality and accessibility of legal services provided to the public. Of course, it cannot be said that the bar exam was an ideal system. Long-term exams and excessive competition have caused many social and personal side effects. However, the bar exam was an open structure in which anyone could take the challenge, and it also opened the door to certain opportunities for those from non-metropolitan areas or from non-literary universities. If the current law school system is not even able to replace it, it is a plan worth considering again to discuss the revival of the bar exam or the comprehensive expansion of the preliminary exam. However, in the end, what is important is not the superiority or inferiority of the systems. The question that really needs to be asked is this. “Is the current system actually open to talented young people?” The system should not be an end in itself, but a means to protect the values ​​and ideals it was intended to realize. Law schools cannot be an exception. Now that the presidential election has begun, if the political world talks about youth, fairness, and the restoration of class mobility, the legal training system must also be discussed in a public forum beyond political factions. This is not just a matter of fighting over the existence of the examination system, but a fundamental question of how far Korean society can actually guarantee equality of opportunity. I hope that the promise of change starting from the legal profession will once again give more people hope that “dragons can fly from the beginning.”[View full article] Law Leader - [Contribution] Purpose of introduction: Fading law school, legal training system needs to be completely reformed (link) Korea Law Daily - [Contribution] Purpose of introduction: Fading law school, legal training system needs to be completely reformed (link)

Class action lawsuits, right or power? (3) Indiscriminate lawsuits to catch trivial cases Black consumer companies aimed at large settlements are struck by the mere fact of being sued. Claims that go beyond social norms and the compensation court does not accept The advantage of class actions is that legal issues can be raised at a relatively low cost. On the other hand, as the threshold for litigation is low, concerns about abuse have been consistently raised. Therefore, concerns are raised that if a balance is not found in the process of promoting the class action system, there may be a series of 'black consumer lawsuits' targeting large settlement amounts. The United States, where class action lawsuits are active, is a representative precedent. According to the legal community on the 29th, cases in which the plaintiff's claims or demands in a class action lawsuit are evaluated as excessive can be confirmed through precedent. In the Tongyang Securities (now Yuanta Securities) class action lawsuit, which was called the "Tongyang Incident" in April last year, the court rejected the claims of class action participants demanding compensation and ruled in favor of the company. This lawsuit was triggered by suspicions that Dongyang Group caused enormous losses to investors in 2013 by selling corporate bonds despite its inability to repay. About 1,200 victims filed a claim for damages against Tongyang Securities, but the court did not acknowledge responsibility, saying, "It cannot be said that there was a false or omitted entry of important information in Tongyang Securities' securities report." The court's judgment was that 'a reasonable investor would have been able to recognize the risk.' This ruling was confirmed upon dismissal of the appeal by the Supreme Court. However, as the legal battle continued for 10 years, both the class action parties and the company suffered losses. The Nate and Cyworld server hacking incidents were similar. At the time, Chinese hackers stole the personal information of 34.9 million people, and about 20,000 of them filed a lawsuit against SK Communications, demanding compensation of 300,000 won per person. However, in 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that the plaintiff lost, saying, "Considering that the company was operating an intrusion prevention system at the time, it cannot be seen that it did not take protective measures to a level that could reasonably be expected based on social norms." A lawsuit for damages related to the unauthorized collection of location information filed by 299 iPhone users against Apple also continued for seven years, but the Supreme Court confirmed the plaintiff's defeat in 2018. The Supreme Court ruled that collected information cannot identify a specific device or user, and that information collection bugs are 'trial and error' that occurred in the process of technology settlement. A judge from a large law firm said, "If class action lawsuits are abused, even unwanted people can be dragged into the lawsuit," and pointed out, "It has long been recognized as an anti-corporate system." The United States, which is considered to have strong consumer protection laws, has a well-developed class action system. Because of this, class action lawsuits in which multiple consumers sue companies are also common. Banks, retailers, and technology companies are their main targets, and tens of thousands of lawsuits are reported each year. However, there is a side effect that such black consumer lawsuits are filed excessively or lawsuits over minor issues are also filed excessively. There is also criticism that litigation costs and settlements lead to a financial burden on companies, which may eventually be passed on to rising consumer prices. A lawyer at a large law firm said, "As the number of plaintiffs increases, the burden on companies increases. Currently, the plaintiffs' claims are different, so it is difficult for the judiciary to proceed with the trial." However, there is also a counterargument that the possibility of a different lawsuit is not high. Ji Min-hee, a lawyer at Daeryun Law Firm, countered, "It is difficult to view the 'overuse' of lawsuits as necessarily harmful, and the excessive lawsuits that may occur in the early stages of introducing the system can be seen as a process of establishing legitimacy and limits through judicial review." At the Ministry of Justice's public hearing on the class action system in December 2020, the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Businesses said, "There is a lot of room for small and medium-sized businesses to be included in class action lawsuits, and 'black consumer lawsuits' may also increase." He argued, “Even if we win the case, consumer trust will be weakened just by being sued.” Reporter Choi Eun-sol (scottchoi15@fnnews.com)[View full article] Anti-corporate sentiment rises and becomes a trial of public opinion... A company that doesn't win even if it wins (Shortcut)

A manufacturing representative who was booked on charges of signing a supply contract with a counterpart company while hiding financial difficulties and failing to pay the price was acquitted. According to the Asan Police Station in South Chungcheong Province on the 30th, a decision was made not to forward Mr. A, who was booked on fraud charges last month. Mr. A, the registered CEO of a production equipment manufacturer, has been entrusting the actual business to Mr. B, the actual representative. Mr. B, who was in charge of the overall business, has been in charge since around September 2023. It signed a contract with a customer to supply goods worth 210 million won. However, the company was experiencing financial difficulties at the time and did not have the capacity to pay the contracted company. However, Mr. B concealed this fact and proceeded with the contract, and continued to procure goods from the damaged company. In the end, the customer received only 20 million won and did not receive the remaining 190 million won back. As a result, Mr. A and others were charged with fraud. He filed a complaint. Mr. A, who had not received a report on the company's financial situation from Mr. B, denied all charges. It was claimed that all business was involved with Mr. B and that it was done without even discussing whether to proceed with the contract. The police also ruled that Mr. A was not guilty. The reason was, "There is no objective evidence that he participated in criminal activities, so it cannot be said that he colluded with Mr. B to defraud the complainant." Attorney Nam Sang-gwan of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, said, "He operated the company arbitrarily without reporting the difficult operating situation of the company." “The problem arose due to Mr. B,” he explained, adding, “Mr. A is only a representative in name, and there was no intention or execution of joint processing with Mr. B in relation to this case.” He also added, “Mr. A entrusted the management of the company to Mr. B, and Mr. A had no participation whatsoever in the overall aspects, such as carrying out projects and other business operations, selecting business partners, purchasing materials, and sales,” adding, “Therefore, there is no reason for Mr. A to be held criminally responsible.” Jeong Eui-jin (jej88@ikbc.co.kr)[View full article] A manufacturing representative who received goods while hiding financial difficulties was acquitted of fraud charges.. Why? (Shortcut)

The company claimed, “The couple embezzled 2.3 billion won together.” “According to the account analysis, it cannot be considered a conspiracy.” A man who was handed over to the prosecution for embezzling company money with his spouse was cleared of charges. On the 28th of last month, the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office ordered a non-indictment against Mr. A, in his 50s, who was sent on charges of embezzlement (violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, etc.). Mr. A has been conspiring with his spouse, Mr. B, since 2015. Mr. B was accused of embezzling about 2.3 billion won from the account of the company where he worked over 4,700 times over 8 years. First, Mr. B, who was indicted on charges of embezzlement, was sentenced to prison. Afterwards, the company claimed that the two people colluded, saying that Mr. B used most of the embezzled money for Mr. A and through this he subscribed to excessive amounts of insurance. He also emphasized that Mr. A canceled all insurance policies he had subscribed to after Mr. B's arrest. Mr. A denied the charges. He refuted that he only found out about this fact after the case was reported to the police, and that he was not aware of his spouse's crime at all. In addition, he claimed that because the company had seized the insurance money, there was no reason to pay additional money, so the insurance was canceled. The police decided not to forward the case. The police said, “As a result of analyzing Mr. B’s account, there are no circumstances to believe that the suspect was involved in the crime.” and “Given that Mr. B also stated that the suspect had no knowledge of the crime, it is difficult to say that he conspired to commit embezzlement.” The company, which dissatisfied with this, filed an objection and sent the case to the prosecution, but the prosecution also decided not to indict for the same reason. Attorney Byeon Gwan-hoon of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A in this case, said, “The family “Because Mr. B was in charge of management, it was difficult for Mr. A to know not only how much money was embezzled but also the fact that the crime occurred,” he said. “We were able to get an acquittal by proving that Mr. A’s expenditures were made up of Mr. A’s earned income, not the embezzled money.” Digital Content Team[View full article] Man accused of conspiring to embezzle with his spouse... Prosecution not indicted due to “no circumstances of involvement” (Shortcut)

Group litigation law firm sends a proposal to the National Assembly. Requests for 'opt-out' of judgment applied to all victims "Realize group rights by improving group litigation system" While 235 users harmed by SK Telecom (SKT) SIM information hacking are filing a lawsuit against SKT for damages, victims are raising their voices calling for the introduction of an 'American-style class action' system where the effect of the judgment applies to all victims instead of the current group lawsuit system. According to the legal community on the 29th, the victims of the SKT group lawsuit and Daeryun Law Firm, their litigation representative, plan to send a legislative proposal to this effect to the National Assembly Legislative and Judiciary Committee and the Science, Technology and Communications Committee on the 30th. They plan to request additional cases as part of their presidential election pledge. The American-style class action lawsuit they are requesting stipulates that when multiple consumers or investors suffer a small amount of damage due to the same or similar causes, the effect of the judgment applies to all victims. A representative files a lawsuit collectively on behalf of all victims. It can be widely used in various fields such as the environment, pollution, consumer damage, and securities trading. The advantages of American-style class action lawsuits include △effective relief of small and large amounts of damage, △increased deterrence for companies and the possibility of recovering damage, and △an 'opt-out method' that receives the effect of the judgment without separate active consent. If any victim files a lawsuit for the benefit of the group and wins, the opt-out is applied unless a separate exclusion request is made. In fact, after the 2021 T-Mobile hacking incident in the U.S., in which 76.6 million customer information, including social security numbers and driver's license information, was leaked, a lawsuit was filed and a settlement of $500 million (approximately KRW 655 billion) was paid. Compensation of up to $2,500 (approximately 3.28 million won) was awarded per individual. On the other hand, among our group lawsuits, consumer group lawsuits stipulate that consumer groups that meet certain requirements can request the prohibition or suspension of illegal acts by business operators that infringe on the rights and interests of many consumers. However, this has the limitation of not being able to claim monetary damages. In addition, unlike the United States, our group lawsuit is a joint lawsuit. Victims must directly participate in the lawsuit to receive compensation. It does not result in punitive damages or automatic full victim relief. They argue that due to these institutional limitations, the actual scale of compensation and social impact of the SKT group lawsuit is bound to be significantly limited compared to the United States. A Daeryun official expressed concern, saying, "American-style class action lawsuits are effective in realizing the rights of the entire group as they can protect passive victims, but due to the limitations of our system, the actual amount of compensation and corporate liability is still lower than in the United States." He added, "We are supplementing the existing consumer group lawsuit system and preparing an opt-out method and anti-abuse prevention device, etc. He urged, “Legislation must be enacted that accepts its merits.” Reporter Yeji Kim (yesji@fnnews.com)[View full article] [Exclusive] 'SKT hacking' class action lawsuit "Requests for an American-style presidential election pledge" (link)

On the 29th, the Korean Federation of Teachers' Federation and Daeryun Law Firm (representative lawyer Kim Kuk-il, right in the photo) signed a business agreement (MOU) at the Teachers' Assembly Hall in Seocho-gu, Seoul to resolve various disputes and legal issues that may arise in school settings. The main contents of the agreement include ▲ legal consultation for recovery of infringement on teaching rights of members of the Korean Teachers' Association, ▲ legal advice such as requests for legislation and legal interpretation by the Korean Teachers' Federation, ▲ support for legal education for students and teachers, and ▲ promotion and commission of joint research (seminar, etc.) related to teaching rights and law. At the agreement ceremony, Kang Joo-ho, president of the teachers' union, said, “Like the recent Jeju teacher death incident, teachers in the field are suffering from serious malicious complaints and indiscriminate reports of child abuse,” and added, “We expect that this business agreement will provide professional legal support to teachers and greatly help in restoring teaching rights.”[View full article] Lawyers supporting restoration of church rights (link)