Journey Together

SEUM advised semiconductor component manufacturer MECARO Co., Ltd. in a cross-border transaction for the acquisition of its chemical business division by Merck, a global technology company, in a transaction valued at approximately EUR 110 million.

SEUM was announced as one of Asia’s fastest growing firms in 2022 by Asian Legal Business (ALB) which is under ownership of Thomson Reuters, a global media conglomerate that delivers intelligent information in finance, law, tax, and intellectual property (IP), among others.

SEUM would like to convey sincere appreciation for all your support. SEUM will continue to strive to provide excellent legal, IP, and tax services in the coming years.

SEUM successfully maintained its ranking as a “Highly Recommended Firm” in Korea in the Technology and Telecommunications sector for the 2022/2023 edition of Asialaw Profiles: The Guide to Asia-Pacific's Leading Domestic and Regional Law Firms. This marks the third consecutive year that SEUM ranked on par with other top Korean law firms, demonstrating SEUM’s outstanding legal services as a boutique law firm in the tech space.

SEUM was also recognized as an “Other Notable Firm” in the Consumer Goods and Services, Corporate and M&A, and Private Equity sectors.

SEUM provided the legal advisory services throughout the entire process of this investment from the conclusion of the investment agreement to the performance thereof based on a deep understanding of StradVision gained from years of experience.

SEUM advised 22nd Century Media Co., operator of blockchain media outlet CoinDesk Korea in the issuance of a non-fungible token (NFT) for the famous Round 4 where 9 dan ranked professional Go player Lee Sedol was victorious against AlphaGo, an AI program developed by Google DeepMind.

SEUM has been recognized as a “Highly Recommended Firm” in Korea in the Technology and Telecommunications sector for the 2021 edition of Asialaw Profiles: The Guide to Asia-Pacific's Leading Domestic and Regional Law Firms and now ranks on par with Korea’s top law firms, including Shin & Kim, Yoon & Yang, and Yulchon. 

As the only boutique law firm to achieve this ranking, this recognition serves as a testament to SEUM’s track record of providing high-quality legal services that are comparable in quality with those of Korea’s top firms in the technology sector.

SEUM advised Marketboro. Co., Ltd., the operator of a B2B food ingredient distribution platform, in a KRW 15 billion investment by Daily Food Holdings Co., Ltd.

SEUM accomplished to ascend to the fourth place in the first half of 2020 M&A league tables for Korea published by Bloomberg among the other top law firms.

Despite the downturn in M&A transaction volume due to COVID-19 in the first half of 2020, SEUM achieved a notable deal count by actively advising clients such as Naver, HiteJinro, Marketboro, Deeping Source, and other IT companies and startups in their investment transactions. SEUM’s deal count rose by 33% in the same period last year, achieving the highest revenue per person by a wide margin among the top law firms.

SEUM advised HITE JINRO CO., LTD., in its investment as an angel investor in AppaCompany Co., Ltd., an operator of a home meal replacement (HMR) service ‘YoriVery’.

SEUM advised autonomous driving software developer StradVision in its KRW 31.6 billion Series B funding round, including investments from POSCO Capital, and other VC funds and asset management firms, which resulted in an accumulated fundraising by the company of approximately KRW 47.2 billion.

SEUM advised Bunjang Corp. (“Bunjang”) in a private equity buyout transaction with private equity fund Praxis Capital Partners for a deal size of approximately KRW 160 billion for an 80% stake in the company.

500 Startups and SEUM launched the latest iteration of the “START Docs” (standardized term agreement for raise transactions) for early stage investments in Korea. 

SEUM successfully represented a client in obtaining a damages award from a Korean court in a design infringement lawsuit.  

SEUM advised ADRIEL, an advertising platform that utilizes AI technology, in its recent KRW 5 billion Series A financing round, which included investments from Korea Investment Partners, Woowa Brothers Corp., and BA partners.

SEUM represented Myungjin Holdings (“Myungjin”), a Korea-based fishery and IT business listed on Korea New Exchange (KONEX) in its recent purchase of shares of Seafood Products Limited, a UK-based seafood provider.  Through the transaction, Myungjin acquired a 50% stake in Seafood Products in order to expand its wholesale services globally.

SEUM advised Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a Korean pharmaceutical company in its establishment of a joint venture company with Korea’s leading internet portal company Naver Corporation.

SEUM’s international legal alliance, TAGLaw®, has again been recognized by Chambers & Partners as “Elite” for 2019—the highest ranking awarded to legal networks and alliances. This is the sixth time TAGLaw has received the distinguished “Elite” designation since Chambers & Partners began ranking legal networks and alliances in 2013.

SEUM advised wedding planning platform How To Marry in connection with its recent funding round of KRW 10 billion, which was raised from various institutions including TBT, Korea Development Bank, SV Investment, and Ascendo Ventures.  How To Marry is expected to use the investment proceeds to continue upgrading its service and expand into regions outside of Seoul.

SEUM had another strong year in M&A during 2018! 

We are in the top 5 of The Bell’s League Table 2018 for Korea merger transactions(completed) and top 6 of Bloomberg’s League Table 2018 for South Korea M&A (by announced deal count).

The Legal Times, a leading monthly magazine based in Seoul focusing on the legal industry, featured SEUM in their special 11th anniversary Issue dated November 14, 2018. The article discussing SEUM and its highly regarded startup practice is titled “Our Law Firm in 2018 – “Leading Law Firm for Startups” SEUM” (2018 올해 우리 로펌은…’스타트업 자문 1호’ 세움 in Korea).

SEUM advised NAVER Corporation, Korea’s leading internet portal and mobile company, in connection with Naver’s recent contribution of KRW 99 billion (~USD 88 million) into a 100 billion won venture capital fund devoted to fostering and investing in startups. The SEUM team was comprised of managing partner Hoseok Jung and corporate partner Hyemi Kang; as well as associate Jaewoo Sim.

SEUM has been selected as a “Recommended Firm” in Korea in the area of Technology and Telecommunications, in Asialaw Profiles 2019: The Guide to Asia-Pacific's Leading Domestic and Regional Law Firms.

SEUM represented Huiseoul, a cosmetics e-commerce company, with respect to the initial coin offering (ICO) of its proprietary cryptographic tokens (ticker symbol COSM).

In connection with its expanding international practice, SEUM has been accepted as a member of TAGLaw, a worldwide alliance of more than 155 independent law firms with offices in over 90 countries that provides a full range of legal services to clients all over the world.

SEUM advised Linewalks with respect to its recent funding round through which it raised KRW 1.9 Billion from Kakao Investment. The SEUM team was comprised of partner Hoseok Jung; and associates Bomi Seo and Jaewoo Sim.

SEUM recently advised Cube Intelligence (“CUBE”) with respect to its Initial Coin Offering (“ICO”) of 43.2 million tokens (representing 60% of all tokens issued). The public sale for the CUBE tokens (ticker symbol AUTO), which were also offered for sale by reservation and pre-sale, successfully closed within 24 hours of its launch.

On March 28, 2018, as part of its blockchain seminar series, SEUM will host a discussion regarding “Issues Related to Reverse ICOs.” SEUM’s fourth blockchain seminar will be held at the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies, 18th floor. Managing Partner Hoseok Jung will share insights and thoughts on variety of matters.

On November 8, 2018, Managing Partner Hoseok Jung participated in a press conference held by the Korea Bar Association (the "KBA") at the National Assembly Building in Seoul to advocate for the implementation of blockchain legislation.