International Law

Public or Official Holidays in Korea

Posted on January 04, 2008
Today I received in the management-side employment lawyer mailbag a client inquiry about public holidays in Korea—a question which comes in from time to time from clients establishing or revising their Work Rules. On top of the 15 (or more depending on seniority) days of annual leave entitlement, how many public holidays are employers required to observe? How much down time does a Korean employee get, besides the usual weekend? Other than Labor Day (May Day), there are in fact no official public holidays mandatory on Korean employers...

Housing Bubble: Home Supply Down 30% in 2008

Posted on December 22, 2007
The Maeil Kyungjae’s English edition reports next year’s housing supply will be down 30% over 2007, thanks to Roh Moo Hyun’s housing policies which include punitive taxes on homeowners, and price controls on new units: Housing supplies are expected to decrease 30 percent next year compared to this year...

LMB?s Canal Project: Full Speed Ahead, 2011 Completion

Posted on December 22, 2007
Yes, I didn’t post during the Presidential campaign. Korea has rather stiff election rules that ban on-line comment, even from thinly-read foreign bloggers. Rather than waste my time with the prosecutors (Think they have better things to do? Think again) I sat out the Korean election cycle...

Oops

Posted on December 18, 2007
I got a message from a young lawyer seeking guidance on his career here in Seoul today. And then I deleted the message, stupidly, talking to my Dad on the phone about his impending heart surgery. If you wrote me about your career, send that message again...

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FT: I-Banks Abandoning Hong Kong Hubs?Korea to Gain?

Posted on December 06, 2007
Of course not! I was tantalized by the headline, and the possibility that the Korean government’s financial hub plan was finally going to show some results. But it turns out that the banks are merely decamping to a cheaper part of Hong Kong—namely, West Kowloon, where the rents are 1/4 what they are in Central...

KFTC: Why Does Hyundai Sonata Cost 56% More in Korea?

Posted on December 04, 2007
The English edition of the Chosun Ilbo reports noises from the Korea Fair Trade Commission over suspicious pricing of Hyundai and Kia automobiles (for the uninitiated these two are under common ownership, like Ford and Lincoln-Mercury). Apparently KFTC is investigating why the Sonata NF costs W16 million (about US$17,300) when sold to Americans, but W25 million (US$27,000) here in Korea...

Non-Tariff Trade Barriers in Action: Keeping Budget Airlines Out of Korea

Posted on December 03, 2007
The Ministry of Construction and Transportation (MOCT) put the kibosh last week on Korean Air’s defensive plan to launch Air Korea, a low-cost carrier for international flights. This probably portends difficulty for the City of Incheon’s plan to launch an internationally-focused low cost carrier, Incheon Tiger Air, in collaboration with Singapore-based budget carrier Tiger Airways...

Concerned Korean Scientists Beat Back Mandatory Homosexuality and Multi-Culti B.S.

Posted on November 18, 2007
UPDATE 11/20 11:00 A.M.: All fun aside, Korea’s first Anti-Discrimination Act is an important step toward a fairer society that can include not only all persons of Korean descent who are heterosexual (or closeted) and in good health, but also gay and lesbian Koreans, foreigners, immigrants, and the disabled...

More Property Fallout: Kwangju Regional Construction Group Foundering

Posted on November 16, 2007
Another regional construction-based conglomerate is teetering on the edge. The JoongAng Ilbo’s English edition chalks it up to the traditional Korean cocktail of tax evasion and corporate embezzlement, but your Uncle B sees things a little differently...

Korean Supreme Court Rejects Admissibility of Evidence Obtained Illegally

Posted on November 16, 2007
A real bombshell in the papers today and a slap in the face of Korea’s all-powerful public prosecution. The Supreme Court has finally issued a definitive ruling concerning the admissibility of evidence obtained by the prosecution “illegally”, or outside the boundaries of limited authority granted to the prosecution under a search warrant...

Builders Having Trouble Moving Apartments in Seoul

Posted on November 11, 2007
...now also in the crappier parts of the city, not just Kangnam. And affordability appears to be one of the factors (along with, I would guess, buyers’ uncertainty over whether we’re at the top of the market and whether the government is going to continue to meddle in the market)...

Ex Post Taxo: Korean Government Renegs on Tax Advice

Posted on November 08, 2007
Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) today found out about Korea’s regrettable preference for “flexibility” in re-interpreting laws. The Seoul Administrative Court, ruling on GIC’s appeal against a tax assessment by the Gangnam District Office for deemed acquisition tax in GIC’s December 2004 acquisition of Star Tower, upheld the district’s April 2007 tax grab: [GIC] used two paper companies to complete the transaction, with neither holding fully 51 percent of the property...

KFTC Fines 10 Pharmas, Refers Criminal Charges

Posted on November 04, 2007
Before the weekend, the Korea Times reported another heavy sanction imposed by Korea’s newly-energetic Fair Trade Commission: The country?s corporate watchdog said Thursday that it has imposed a combined 19.9 billion won ($22 million) in fines on 10 local pharmaceutical companies for unfair trading practices, including the provision of illegal rebates to hospitals and wholesalers...

Private Equity and Chicken Entrepreneurs Investing in Pyongyang

Posted on November 02, 2007
Emerging-markets asset management company Fabien Pictet and Partners is reported to be sniffing around Pyongyang for investment opportunities, and to intend a North Korea private equity fund. There are a few other North Korea funds in the raising, but finding the opportunities may be difficult: “It would be very difficult to put more than $50 million directly into North Korea,” said [Fabien Pictet CEO Richard] Yarlott, 47, who helps manage $750 million of bonds and equities...

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