Paul S. Rhee

Practice Areas

Antitrust & Competition

Antitrust & Competition Litigation

Antitrust & Competition Compliance

Merger Filings

Regulation on Conglomerates ∙ Holding Companies

Unfair Affiliate Transactions

Cartel

Unfair Trade Practices

Consumer Protection

Abuse of Market Dominance

Terms and Conditions ∙ Labeling and Advertising

Distribution

Subcontracting

Career

Paul S. Rhee is the senior foreign attorney (partner) in the highly-ranked and award-winning Antitrust and Competition Practice Group at Yoon & Yang LLC in Seoul, Korea, which has been designated since 2008 as an ‘ELITE’ competition practice in Korea by Global Competition Review (GCR) with listing as a GCR 100 law firm and, in 2018, has won the GCR Awards for “Regional Firm of the Year: Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa” and In-House Community Asian-Mena Counsel Firm of the Year.

He has been practicing in Korea for over 20 years, advising multinational corporations on all aspects of their Korean business while primarily focusing on antitrust matters involving interface between antitrust law and intellectual property rights, corporate leniency program, merger control, criminal prosecution, private damage claims, administrative appeals, internal audits/investigations and compliance/training. He has extensive experience representing multinational corporations in Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) investigations concerning abuse of dominance, unfair trade practice (including subcontracting), false advertising, merger control and domestic and international cartels in various industries. He also has extensive experience in transactions involving serious antitrust issues such as cartels and merger clearance.

From 2017 to 2018, Paul led his team in successfully representing United Technologies Corporation in the KFTC’s merger investigation into its acquisition of Rockwell Collins, which resulted in KFTC’s unconditional approval and was honored with the GCR Awards 2019 for “Merger control matter of the year – Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa.” From 2013 to 2015, he led his team in successfully representing Microsoft Corporation in the KFTC’s merger review investigation into its acquisition of Nokia Corporation’s mobile device business, which resulted in the first consent decree in a merger review case in Korea and was honored with the GCR Awards 2016 for “Merger control matter of the year – Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa.”

Since 2019, Paul has been a ranked lawyer (Band 3) for Competition and Antitrust by Chambers & Partners Asia-Pacific. In 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2021, Paul was the winner of the Law Business Research’s Lexology Client Choice Award in Competition & Antitrust for South Korea. He has been a contributing author from Korea covering competition practice areas for LexisNexis UK’s LexisPSL Practice Note, Thomson Reuters Practical Law Global Guide, and Chambers and Partners’ Global Practice Guide.

Professional Memberships

Admitted to the bar, Washington, D.C. (1998); Connecticut (1997)

Publications

South Korea Section, Chambers and Partners’ Global Practice Guide – Merger Control (Co-author), 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

South Korea Section, LexisNexis UK's LexisPSL Practice Note on Competition (International Cartel Enforcement & Merger Control) (Co-author), 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

South Korea Chapter, Thomson Reuter’s Practical Law Global Guide, Competition and Cartel Leniency (Co-author), 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

Euromoney/Legal Media Group’s Expert Guides: Competition and Antitrust, “Korea Fair Trade Commission’s Right Balance in Regulating SEPs and De Facto SEPs” (Co-author), 2018

Global Competition Review’s “Know-How Private Antitrust Litigation – Korea” (Co-author), 2014, 2015, 2016

LexisNexis UK's Doing Business in Korea (Co-author), 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

“South Korea: Cartels and its Aftermath,” The American Lawyer (Co-author), May 2014

“South Korea Q&A Chapter,” Thomson Reuters’ PLC Cross-border Mergers & Acquisitions Handbook (Co-author), 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012/2013

“Korean Chapter,” The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Cartels & Leniency, Global Legal Group (Co-author), 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

“Korean Antitrust Regulations,” South Korea Chapter, The Guide to Competition and Antitrust, International Financial Law Review (Co-author), 2008, 2009, 2010

“Overlapping Regulations by Sector-specific Regulators and the Competition Authority in South Korean Telecommunications and Financial Industries,” CUTS Centre for Competition, Investment & Economic Regulation (Co-author), November 2013

South Korea Chapter, Global Legal Group's International Comparative Legal Guide to: Cartels & Leniency (Co-author), 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.

Work Highlights

ANTITRUST

[Merger Control]

- Represented Symbio and Schaeffler in a merger filing to establish a joint venture for hydrogen fuel cell components business

Represented Raytheon Technologies Corporation in a merger filing to establish a joint venture with Saudi Aramco for cybersecurity business

- Represented ALD in a merger filing to establish a joint venture with Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance for vehicle leasing and fleet management business

- Represented United Technologies Corporation in a merger filing to acquire Raytheon Company

Represented Faurecia Exhaust International in a merger filing to acquire a substantial stake in Symbio, the hydrogen fuel cell subsidiary of Manufacture Francaise des Pneumatiques Michelin

M&A

- Represented a party bidding to acquire TmaxSoft

- Represented Camso Inc. in its sale to Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin SCA regarding Korean aspects of the transaction

- Represented Oriental Brewery Company in acquiring a leading Korean craft beer maker

- Represented Camso Inc. (formerly Camoplast Solideal Inc.) in selling its Korean subsidiary to Kamur Partners Private Equity for KRW 37,000,000,000

- Represented DFASS Group in establishing a joint venture for duty free business with Entas

- Represented United Technologies Corporation (Pratt & Whitney) in establishing a joint venture for aircraft engine maintenance, repair and overhaul business with Korean Air in the Incheon Economic Free Zone

[Cartels]

Represented a leading multinational software company’s Korean subsidiary in the KFTC’s 3-year investigation into public procurement bid-rigging, which resulted in a non-violation decision

Represented a leading multinational machine component manufacturer's Korean subsidiary in the KFTC’s 4-year investigation into the domestic conveyor belt cartel, which resulted in full immunity under the KFTC’s corporate leniency program and full exemption of administrative surcharge in another cartel investigation under KFTC’s amnesty plus program (first time for full exemption of administrative surcharge under KFTC’s amnesty plus program)

Represented a leading multinational machine component manufacturer's Korean subsidiary in the KFTC’s 2-year investigation into the domestic crawler/track cartel, which resulted in full immunity under the KFTC’s corporate leniency program and amnesty plus benefits in another cartel investigation

Languages Spoken

English and Korean

Experience

2002-present: Yoon & Yang LLC

2006-12: Vice-Chairman, Legal Services Committee, The European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea

2001-02: Horizon Law Group, Seoul, Korea

1998-00: Kim & Chang, Seoul, Korea

1996-97: Lambert Armeniades & Lee (now Mayer Brown LLP’s Paris office), Paris, France

Clients

RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies/ United Technologies), Microsoft, Camso, Otis Elevator, Oriental Brewery, The Olayan Group, Contemporary Amperex Technology

Education

Awards