How to reach me

I am a Korean-qualified lawyer and a partner at SEUM Law in Seoul. If something on this site looks like your company’s problem, write to me.

These are the matters I usually handle.

  • Breach response — the first 72 hours, whether notification and reporting are triggered under arts. 34 and 39-4, and dealing with the Commission afterwards
  • PIPC investigations and enforcement — from a materials request through opinion submissions to challenging a disposition
  • Cross-border transfers and structure — art. 28-8 transfer grounds, group agreements applied under Korean law, domestic representative appointment, chief privacy officer requirements
  • Product and feature review — whether a planned data use holds up under Korean law
  • Disputes after an incident — who bears what between controller and processor
  • Investment and M&A — privacy findings in diligence and how they carry into the documents

If your matter falls outside data protection, colleagues at SEUM Law may be better placed, and I will tell you where to go.

Working language

Correspondence, advice and reports are in English. Filings with the Commission and court documents must be in Korean; that work is handled on your behalf. Korean is the governing language of every statute cited on this site — English renderings here are unofficial and should not be relied on as the text.

What happens after you write

  1. Reply — within one business day, Korea time (UTC+9). If it will take longer, I say when to expect a full answer.
  2. Conflicts check — whether the other side is already a client of the firm. If the matter cannot be taken, I tell you that and nothing more.
  3. Scope — a short call to work out what the matter actually requires and how urgent it is. A call is usually faster than email for this.
  4. Terms — once the scope is settled, I set out how the work would run and what it would cost. You are free to stop there.

If three days pass with no reply the message did not arrive. Check your spam folder and write again.

Contact

Helps me reply faster (optional)

I reply within one business day (Korea time, UTC+9). If you hear nothing within three days the mail did not arrive — please write to hyunsub.lee@seumlaw.com.

Email works just as well and reaches the same place.

What this page is not

Corrections to the data tables are welcome at the same address — put "correction" in the subject line and I will check it against the original and fix it, recording the change in the update log (Korean).

Press, writing and speaking requests go to the same address. Please include your outlet and the dates you have in mind.

This is not a legal advice service. datalaw.kr is a notebook I write and run under my own name. It offers no automated or AI consultation, and everything on it is general information rather than advice on your facts. The only official domain for this site is datalaw.kr (about).

Frequently asked questions

Q. How quickly will I get a reply?

Within one business day, Korea time (UTC+9). Court dates and travel sometimes delay this, and when they do I will tell you when you can expect a full answer. If you hear nothing within three days the message did not arrive — please write again.

Q. Can you work in English?

Yes. Correspondence, advice and reports are in English. Filings, submissions to the Personal Information Protection Commission and court documents have to be in Korean, and that work is handled on your behalf. Korean is the governing language of the statutes; English renderings on this site are unofficial.

Q. Do you act for companies outside Korea?

Often, yes. A common situation is a foreign group whose Korean subsidiary or Korean user base brings it within the Personal Information Protection Act — appointing a domestic representative, applying a group data protection agreement under Korean law, or responding to the Commission after an incident.

The content of this site is general information and not legal advice. Specific matters require individual review, and writing to me does not create a lawyer-client relationship.