Recent Developments

Lee & Ko attorneys and North Korean defector university students came together to successfully complete the 6th “Lee & Ko Friends” program, where participants were paired as “Older Friend” (Friend Mentor) and “Young Friend” (Friend Mentee) to build meaningful friendships.

This program, jointly organized by Lee & Ko and the Together Foundation North Korean Defectors Employment Support Center (Director: Kyung-il Choi), is a public service initiative that encourages Lee & Ko attorneys and North Korean defector university students to meet regularly in a comfortable and informal setting in hopes of helping the students navigate their transition into society and continue to grow. Introduced by the firm in 2018 as the first program of its kind among Korean law firms, this pro bono activity has now reached the completion of its 6th round.

More than a conventional mentoring program, this mentorship activity is designed to assist participants to build trust, share their interests and experiences, and grow together through meaningful interactions. It has also been widely recognized for fostering lasting relationships instead of one-time support, achieving high levels of satisfaction and serving as a model pro bono initiative. Also, a positive influence on the broader adoption of similar programs within the law-firm community has been noted.

Launched in August last year, the 6th “Lee & Ko Friends” program brought together 10 Lee & Ko attorneys and 10 North Korean defector university students. Forming one-on-one pairs, the participants met five times from September to January, sharing cultural outings during “Open Meet-ups” and completing themed photography challenges through “Mission Meet-ups.”

In addition, in celebration of the completion of its 6th session, a closing party was held on February 23 at Lee & Ko’s seminar room in Jung-gu, Seoul. Lee & Ko attorneys and North Korean defector university students gathered once again to look back on the past five months of activities. During the event, participants shared their thoughts and experiences, expressing gratitude and a touch of sadness as it came to a close.

Attorney Hyung Mi Jeon of Lee & Ko, who participated in the program as a Friend Mentor, remarked, “This opportunity was not simply a chance for me to help someone, but a meaningful experience of sharing joyful memories with a newly found friend, understanding each other’s lives, and connecting on a personal level. I was also deeply moved by their sincere commitment to pursuing their dreams at every moment.” She further added, “Despite the closing of the event, I see it as the beginning of a new bond. I will continue to support my Friend Mentee so they can believe in their own potential and confidently move forward toward the future.”

The North Korean defector university students shared their experiences as well, noting that “Through several meet-ups with the attorneys, we formed close bonds and created many meaningful memories and were able to gain a clearer sense of our future career paths through their thoughtful advice and conversations.”

In 2011, Lee & Ko established a North Korean Defectors Legal Support Team under its Pro Bono Committee and has since carried out public interest activities for North Korean defectors in a systematic manner. Going forward, the firm plans to further expand legal assistance for vulnerable groups, including North Korean defectors, while continuing a variety of community engagement efforts.

Lee & Ko’s Pro Bono Committee successfully joined this year’s volunteer program at the Love Bread Sharing Center.

On January 17, beginning at 1:30 p.m., nearly 20 Lee & Ko employees and their family members gathered and spent approximately three hours participating in a bread-making volunteer program at the Seongdong Bread Sharing Center of the Seoul Chapter of the Korean Red Cross. From kneading the dough to fermentation, shaping, baking, and packaging, participants took part in the full bread-making journey, crafting cream-filled buns and blueberry muffins from start to finish and delivering roughly 400 freshly baked loaves to undernourished neighbors in partnership with the Korean Red Cross.

Partner Ki Jung Sung of Lee & Ko’s Criminal Defense Group (Judicial Research and Training Institute, 41st Class), a long-time participant in the volunteer activity with his children, shared his thought, “Lee & Ko’s enduring volunteer service at the Love Bread Sharing Center offers a meaningful opportunity for our members and their families to come together and put the values of public interest into practice.” He added, “What makes this experience especially meaningful is the opportunity to share a small act of warmth with neighbors in need. The chance to share meaningful and enjoyable time with my children through this program is also one of the reasons I choose to participate each year.”

Launched in 2019 by Lee & Ko’s Pro Bono Committee, this volunteer program at the Love Bread Sharing Center began with a spirit of “fostering an uplifting culture of social engagement through volunteer programs that are easy to join and open to everyone.” Since then, the initiative has grown into a social engagement program in which employees and their families come together each year to step in to support and share the value of giving.

Since 2011, the Pro Bono Committee of Lee & Ko has shown a 15-year commitment to the Briquettes of Love Campaign, an initiative dedicated to supporting vulnerable communities throughout the winter.

Through donations made to the nonprofit organization “Briquettes Sharing Movement for a Warm Korean Peninsula,” the Committee once again contributed 5,000 coal briquettes this year. In addition, on December 6, approximately 40 Lee & Ko members and their family members gathered in Guryong Village, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, to participate in a volunteer briquette delivery program. To date, Lee & Ko’s cumulative briquette donations total 74,230 briquettes.

Chairperson and Managing Partner Won Seok Ko of the Pro Bono Committee shared his gratitude: “Each year in early winter, it is deeply rewarding for members of Lee & Ko to come together and share small yet meaningful warmth with our neighbors through briquette giving. The Pro Bono Committee of Lee & Ko will continue to extend the spirit of giving to communities in every nook and corner of our society.”
 

Lee & Ko (Managing Partner: Sanggon Kim) joined the “2025 Happy Box Project” as part of its year-end community engagement, assisting underprivileged children experiencing food insecurity.

The Happy Box Project, spearheaded by Happy Alliance, is a social-contribution initiative aimed at improving the well-being of children often left out of welfare benefits and providing care packages with essential goods to children at risk of hunger to promote healthier living and future growth.

On November 26, more than 30 Lee & Ko employees gathered in the Academia Room on the first floor of the firm’s new building in Jung-gu, Seoul, to participate in the “Happy Box & Support Package for Basic Essentials” program hosted by Happy Alliance and to actively engage in packaging the donated items. 

Throughout the event, each participant directly prepared five boxes filled with winter essentials for children, including hygiene supplies, healthy snacks, and daily-use items, along with personal notes to share warmth and support.

Su Jeong Park, Manager of Lee & Ko’s Pro Bono Committee (Secretarial Support Department), commented, “As an expecting mother approaching my due date, packing the boxes was more challenging than expected, yet deeply rewarding. Preparing each box, I couldn’t help but picture the children who would open them. I hope my small gesture could give a meaningful uplift to them.”

On April 25, 2025, Lee & Ko invited Mamadou Dian Balde, Regional Director of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for East Africa, to hold a public lecture titled “The Realities and Responses to Forced Displacement in East Africa” at Academia Hall, 1st floor of its new building in Jung-gu, Seoul. 

Director Mamadou Dian Balde, who previously served at UNHCR’s South Korea office in the early 2000s, delivered a lecture on the current refugee situations in East Africa, including Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan and the Congo, emphasizing the need for legal assistance to address humanitarian challenges in these regions. 

Attorney Seok Pyo Hong, Chair of Lee & Ko’s Pro Bono Committee, who organized this lecture, said, “Addressing forced displacement and the refugee crisis in Africa is an urgent global task requiring open dialogue. We hope this lecture will serve as an opportunity to expand legal assistance to refugees”. He also added, “It is rare for law firms to host a public lecture on refugee issues. Through this meaningful event, Lee & Ko’s Pro Bono Committee has invited an international expert to shed light on the vivid realities of the East African region. We hope this provides a valuable experience for everyone who attends the lecture”.

Lee & Ko’s Pro Bono Committee (Chairman: Managing Partner Won Seok Ko) arranged a volunteer activity at the Love Bread Sharing Center on January 11, 2025.

Nearly 30 employees and their family members joined hands for this heartfelt community initiative at the Seongdong Love Bread Sharing Center of the Korean Red Cross Seoul Branch, which lasted for around three hours from 1:30 p.m. The volunteers baked and sealed pea bean paste bread and corn mayo bread and then delivered these packages to undernourished neighbors in partnership with the Korean Red Cross. 

Partner Seok Pyo Hong (36th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute), the auditor of the Committee, commented, “Our employees and their families came together and spent a meaningful time participating in every step, from kneading to packaging. I hope our bread, humble but made with sincere heart, will offer a slice of support to undernourished neighbors.”

Since 2019, Lee & Ko’s Pro Bono Committee has remained committed to this annual volunteer event at the Love Bread Sharing Center with a spirit of “fostering an uplifting culture of social engagement through volunteer programs that are easy to join and open to everyone.”
 

On November 30, 2024, Lee & Ko’s Public Service Committee (Chairman: Managing Partner Ko Won Seok) coordinated a volunteer initiative to deliver coal briquettes to vulnerable residents in Guryong Village, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, to extend warmth during the winter season. 

As part of the campaign, the Committee donated 5,000 coal briquettes to support the “Briquettes Sharing Movement for a Warm Korean Peninsula,” 2,000 of which were directly delivered to 10 households by 30 Lee & Ko members and their families.

Since joining this meaningful campaign in 2011, Lee & Ko has donated a total of 69,230 briquettes over the past 14 years.

Chairman and Managing Partner Ko Won Seok expressed his gratitude, "I am immensely proud that Lee & Ko members gather together each year to provide small yet heartfelt support to our neighbors. I wish to emphasize that our Public Service Committee will continue to spread the spirit of sharing to those in need, reaching every corner of our community for years to come.”

Lee & Ko has been selected as the winner of the Specialist award – Pro Bono at the 2024 IFLR Asia Pacific Awards. 

Lee & Ko won the lawsuit against the Incheon International Airport Immigration Bureau for cancellation of the determination not to refer to the refugee status screening on behalf of the refugees Mali and Angola. This case has become a landmark precedent for the South Korean government to conduct the refugee screening in accordance with due process. As a result of the collaboration and exercise of expertise by various attorneys in Lee & Ko, the firm was awarded the Specialist award – Pro bono in recognition of these activities. Lee & Ko plans to continue its vigorous efforts to provide legal support to the underprivileged. 

The IFLR (International Financial Law Review) is a global legal magazine specializing in finance. Annually at the IFLR Asia Pacific Awards, it selects and presents winners from various practice areas such as outstanding law firms, attorneys, deals, in-house counsels and specialist awards in Asia based on extensive research results, including submission by law firms and interviews with attorneys, in-house lawyers and corporate finance professionals.

The Pro Bono Committee of Lee & Ko publishes ‘Pro Bono Report’ that introduce our pro bono activity overall every year, and this year, we also published the report that contains the details of our committee's major pro bono activities of last year.

Last year, 2022,  the Pro Bono Committee of Lee & Ko won the “Pro Bono Award” at the 5th  Korea Legal Award in recognition of its success in an administrative litigation for disclosing administrative guidelines for refugee status determination on behalf of the NANCEN, and led to the acquittal of a refugee in a case of violation of the Immigration Control Act. Furthermore, Lee & Ko hosted “Lee& Ko Friends” program in which attorneys at Lee & Ko and North Korean defectors attending college develop one-on-one mentorship and get a chance to become friends. Also committee provided legal training and advice to ‘Heavenly dream school’, an Alternative School For North Korean youth defectors and free legal consultation and advice to Anna’s House, a social welfare organization.