I am a Korean-qualified lawyer and a partner at SEUM Law in Seoul. Since 2013 I have advised technology companies on Korean data protection law — start-ups, the Korean subsidiaries of foreign groups, and listed companies.
What I work on
- Breach response. The first 72 hours, notification and reporting under arts. 34 and 39-4, and what the record of those hours does later in an investigation or a claim.
- PIPC investigations and enforcement. Responding to materials requests, prior notice and opinion submissions, and the surcharge calculation itself.
- Cross-border transfers and structure. Art. 28-8 transfer grounds, what a group DPA does and does not cover under Korean law, domestic representative appointment, and chief privacy officer requirements for a Korean subsidiary.
- Disputes after an incident. Who bears what between controller and processor, and how recourse is actually calculated.
- Investment and M&A. Privacy findings in diligence, and how they are carried into representations, warranties and covenants.
Why this site exists
Most of what I write here is in Korean, because the primary readers are Korean legal and privacy teams. The material is built from primary sources — decisions, statutes and notices read in the original — and the underlying tables are published alongside the writing so a reader can check the basis rather than take the summary on trust.
For readers outside Korea there is a smaller set of English pages:
- How Korean privacy fines are calculated — the surcharge formula, a calculator, and the administrative fine amounts.
- How Korea’s PIPC sanctions foreign companies — every published decision against a named foreign operator.
- Appointing a domestic representative — who must appoint one, and what changed in 2025 and 2026.
- English notes and summaries — the full list, including English summaries attached to Korean articles.
Background
- Partner, SEUM Law (2013–present)
- Member, IT and Blockchain Committee, Korean Bar Association (2019–2021)
- Expert adviser, Korea Creative Content Agency (2023–2025)
- Yonsei University Law School; KAIST, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Author, Legal Strategy for Startup Growth (Dasan, 2025) and co-author, What Makes a Winning Law Firm (Parkyoung, 2022)
Contact
Write in English or Korean; I answer in either.
- Email: hyunsub.lee@seumlaw.com
- Telephone: +82-2-562-3117 (SEUM Law)
- Firm profile: SEUM Law — Hyunsub Lee
- The only official domain for this site is datalaw.kr.
한국어 소개는 이쪽입니다.
Everything on this site is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create a lawyer-client relationship. English translations of Korean legislation are unofficial and carry no legal effect; the Korean text governs.