John P Bang

Practice Areas

John P Bang is a senior partner (foreign attorney) at Peter & Kim in Seoul. He was previously a senior partner at Bae, Kim & Lee LLC, where he worked for 23 years in various roles, including as the co-founder and head of the International Arbitration & Litigation Practice.

John is widely considered to be one of the foremost international disputes practitioners in Asia. In 2024, Chambers noted that John is “one of the top arbitration practitioners in Korea” and Who’s Who Legal praised John’s “excellent oral advocacy” He has represented parties in over 270 proceedings under the rules of all major institutions and/or ad hoc arbitrations including the ICC, SIAC, HKIAC, ICSID, LCIA, AAA/ICDR, UNCITRAL, VIAC, SCC, ACICA, CIETAC, KCAB, CAS, CIAC and JCAA.

In addition to his experience in arbitration, John regularly supervises and coordinates court litigations in multiple jurisdictions including the US and is widely considered to be an “expert” on choice of law and comparative law issues and gathering evidence (discovery) in international proceedings. He also acts as arbitrator and is frequently appointed as co-arbitrator or presiding arbitrator by institutions and users. Prior to his work at BKL, John served as a federal law clerk to the Honourable Kathryn C. Ferguson. Currently, he is a member of the SIAC Court of Arbitration, a vice president of the Korea Council for International Arbitration and a senior officer of the IBA Litigation Committee.

Career

Federal Law Clerk, The Honourable Kathryn C. Ferguson, USBJ, New Jersey (1996-1997)

Panel of Arbitrators, Korean Commercial Arbitration Board, Chinese Arbitration Association (Taipei), etc. (2011-present)

Board Member, KOCIA (Korea Council for International Arbitration) (2012-present)

Senior Officer, IBA Litigation Committee (2013-present)

Member of Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) Users’ Council (2015-present)

Member of London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) Users’ Council (2016-present)

Panel of Arbitrators, Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) (2016-present)

Panel of Arbitrators, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) (2016-present)

Executive Committee Member, KOCIA (Korea Council for International Arbitration) (2019-present)

Court Member, Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) (2019-present)

Committee Member, Seoul International Dispute Resolution Center (SIDRC) (2021-present)

Vice President, KOCIA (Korea Council for International Arbitration) (2023-present)

Bae, Kim & Lee LLC (1998-2020)

Peter & Kim (2021.1-present)

Professional Memberships

New Jersey Bar Association

New York Bar Association

Industry Sector Expertise

International Arbitration

Investment Arbitration

Construction

Energy & Resources

Project Finance

Shipping

International Trade Law

Public International Law

Experience

International Arbitration

Counsel for one of the world’s largest nuclear power companies in Korea seated arbitration where the amount in dispute is over USD 13 billion dollars.

Counsel for a Korean construction company in a successful, high-value ICC Arbitration seated in Singapore concerning the development of a USD 35 billion business district project, where the underlying claims were valued at over USD 2.7 billion.

Counsel in an ICC Arbitration seated in Singapore for a major Korean financial group in an international arbitration in relation to the sale of shares in a major Korean bank related to the Lonestar-ROK treaty arbitration.

Counsel for the Republic of Korea in an arbitration initiated under the South Korea- Iran BIT being conducted under the ICSID Rules, involving complex questions of res judicata, impact of sanctions on international obligations and conflict of laws.

Counsel for the Republic of Korea in successful, high-value ICSID arbitration brought by an American investor, where the underlying claims were valued at over USD 5 billion.

Counsel in a successful, high-profile ICC arbitration involving a dispute among shareholders for control over a major Korean oil refining and marketing company, with the underlying claims valued at over USD 3 billion (or USD 5 billion including counterclaims). The arbitration award won GAR’s “Arbitration Win of the Year” in 2011.

Counsel in a high-value LCIA arbitration seated in London, arising from a dispute regarding the procurement, construction and commissioning of the first nuclear power station in the United Arab Emirates.

Counsel in an ICSID arbitration based on the Korea – Belgium/Luxembourg BIT, involving multi-billion-dollar claims against the Government of Korea.

Counsel in a consolidated HKIAC arbitration arising from a post-M&A dispute regarding the sale of shares in a major logistics company between two global private equity firms.

Counsel in a high-value SIAC Arbitration seated in Singapore for a consortium of Asian companies concerning the development and operation of a major power plant.

Counsel in an ICC Arbitration seated in Singapore for a major Korean airline in a price review dispute based a long-term catering service agreement.

Counsel in an investment treaty arbitration filed by Swiss-based elevator maker Schindler against the Government of Korea, over its investment in Hyundai Elevator.

Counsel to a football club in a dispute at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against a player’s agent.

Counsel in an ICC Arbitration seated in Singapore representing Korean shareholders in an international arbitration against an UK company over two share sale and purchase transactions.

Counsel in an ICC Arbitration seated in Seoul concerning a long-term distribution agreement of gypsum board and other construction material.

Counsel in an ICC arbitration seated in Singapore, arising from the construction of a combined cycle power plant in the Middle East.

Counsel in an ICC arbitration seated in Singapore involving a hotel construction project in Northeast Asia.

Counsel in an ICC arbitration seated in Korea, arising from the construction of a power plant in Qatar.

Counsel in a SIAC arbitration seated in Singapore, arising from a dispute regarding the engineering, procurement, and construction of a heavy rail-based urban transit system in Vietnam.

Counsel to a global real estate developer in an ICC arbitration seated in Korea, arising from a large real estate development project in Korea, and involving issues related to the financing of the project.

Counsel in an LCIA arbitration seated in London, relating to the engineering and construction of several ultra-deepwater drill ships and a semi-submersible rig.

Counsel in an ICC arbitration regarding the payment of royalties for wireless telecommunications technology, in an amount exceeding US 500 million.

Counsel in an ICC arbitration seated in Singapore, arising from a post-M&A dispute over the purchase of shares in a hypermarkets chain in China.

Counsel in an ICC arbitration arising from a dispute regarding the alleged unauthorized use of high-value proprietary enterprise resource planning software in breach of contract.

Counsel in the second ICSID arbitration against the People’s Republic of China, relating to a Korean company’s investment in the construction of a golf country club and condominiums in the Sheyang-Xian, Jiangsu province.

Counsel in an ICC-arbitration arising from a dispute regarding the ownership of a highly sophisticated and complex telecommunications device.

Counsel in an ICC arbitration arising from a dispute regarding the transfer and use of technology between a Korean automobile manufacturer and the largest automobile company in the United States.

Counsel in an arbitration arising from a dispute between Korea’s largest gas corporation and its former joint venture partner (UK listed entity) regarding the development of a gas field in Western Iraq on the Syrian border.

Counsel in an ICC arbitration arising from a dispute regarding a distributorship agreement between one of the world’s largest manufacturers of medical products and one of Korea’s most prominent publicly-listed pharmaceutical companies.

Counsel in an ICC arbitration between Korea’s largest engineering and construction company and a major German membrane roof construction company, regarding a dispute over the roof construction of one of the football stadiums that hosted the 2002 World Cup matches.

US Litigation

Counsel to Korea-based Mirae Asset in relation to the cancelation of a $5.8 billion acquisition of 15 US luxury hotels from a Chinese insurance company. Defended Mirae Asset, Buyer, in a front of Delaware courts and secured a 100% win for Mirae Asset within 7 months from the commencement of the proceedings.

Counsel to a major Korean retail company for the purpose of managing and supervising two civil litigation cases in Guam (US territory) brought by the world’s largest duty-free operator. The two disputes which relate to the award of a contract for exclusive rights to operate duty free stores at airports in Guam are being litigated at the Guam Superior Court and the Guam Supreme Court.

Counsel, together with US co-counsel, in defending a financial consortium consisting of Korea’s largest insurance companies at the Supreme Court of New York regarding the return of a large deposit in a real estate transaction of a well-known luxury hotel and residence in Midtown Manhattan.

Counsel, together with US co-counsel, in defending two of the largest financial institutions in Korea in a class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York involving allegations of securities fraud and seeking damages in excess of USD 600 million.

Counsel, together with US co-counsel, defending a highly skilled Korean engineer in a US litigation in California regarding alleged misappropriation of trade secrets of US cell phone battery manufacturer.

Languages Spoken

Korean, English

Education