Shin & Kim Launches “Electronic Shareholders’ Meeting TF” to Offer Full-Scale Advisory Service

[Photograph of the members of the Shin & Kim Electronic Shareholders’ Meeting TF (from left to right: Attorney Seung-Woo Baik, Advisor Hyosup Ahn, Attorney Sae Ron Oh, Attorney Sooyoung Chung, Attorney Sookmi Lee, Attorney Byeongheon Yang, Senior Partner Tong-Gun Lee, Researcher Do Hyeon Kim, Attorney Myoung Choi, and Advisor Tae Jun Yoon)]

• From 2027, 210 listed companies with KRW 2 trillion+ in assets must hold hybrid (in-person and electronic) shareholders’ meetings.
• Extraordinary shareholders’ meetings held on or after January 1, 2027, are also covered, so companies should review their articles of incorporation and set up internal operating guidelines by November at the latest

Shin & Kim LLC, represented by Managing Partner Jong-Han Oh (“Shin & Kim”), announced that, in the run-up to the full-scale implementation of the electronic shareholders’ meeting system in 2027, it will begin providing listed companies with integrated advisory services through its Electronic Shareholders’ Meeting TF in order to enhance its comprehensive advisory service capabilities for listed companies.

Starting January 1, 2027, listed companies with total assets of KRW 2 trillion or more will be required to hold its general shareholders’ meetings both in-person and electronic meetings. Companies preparing for electronic meetings will need to address a range of legal and practical issues in advance. These include selecting a platform operator and entering into a service agreement, establishing internal operating guidelines, and issuing meeting notices. They also need procedures for verifying shareholder identity and for proxy attendance, rules on questions and remarks from shareholders attending electronically, measures for responding to technical disruptions, and personal data protection.

Shin & Kim’s Electronic Shareholders’ Meeting TF has been active since the system was first under discussion. Shin & Kim proactively established its Corporate Governance Strategy Center and Corporate Governance Research Institute, and it has advised numerous listed companies on shareholders’ meetings, board operations, and management control disputes, as well as handling related disputes. Furthermore, since immediately after the promulgation of the amended Commercial Act introducing the electronic shareholders’ meetings system in July 2025, Shin & Kim has been operating its Electronic Shareholders’ Meeting TF. Since then, the TF has worked through operational issues for which there is no precedent in Korea, including by publishing practice-oriented articles. Drawing on the insights it has accumulated, the TF will provide timely legal services at every stage of the process. This includes advance preparation for shareholders’ meetings, the conduct of proceedings on the day of the meeting, and responses to any subsequent disputes.

After assessing each company’s articles of incorporation, shareholder composition, existing electronic voting practices, and potential for disputes, the TF will provide step-by-step support on the following: ▲ board resolutions and meeting notices for convening electronic shareholders’ meetings; ▲ review of service agreements with platform operators; ▲ development of internal operating guidelines and meeting scripts; ▲ rules for shareholder questions, remarks, and voting; ▲ response manuals for technical disruptions and emergencies; ▲ mock rehearsals; ▲ meeting-day operations and preparation of minutes; and ▲ post-meeting dispute response.

Shin & Kim’s Electronic Shareholders’ Meeting TF is led by Senior Partner Tong-Gun Lee (JRTI Class 29). He is a veteran in corporate governance and shareholder disputes, with top-tier expertise and extensive experience in the field. He is joined by Attorneys Sookmi Lee (JRTI Class 34), Sae Ron Oh (JRTI Class 40), Myoung Choi (4th Korean Bar Exam), and Seung-Woo Baik (8th Korean Bar Exam), who have successfully handled numerous high-profile management control disputes. The team also includes Attorney Jeong Ho Ahn (JRTI Class 38), who previously worked at the Korea Communications Commission and has served as advisory counsel to the Personal Information Protection Commission and the Ministry of Science and ICT, advising broadly on data privacy regulation. Rounding out the team is Hyosup Ann, Advisor at the Corporate Governance Research Institute and a seasoned practitioner who has handled investor relations and shareholder engagement at leading Korean conglomerates, including Samsung and Hyundai. Because electronic shareholders’ meetings sit at the intersection of corporate law, telecommunications and data privacy regulation, and IR practice, Shin & Kim will provide one-stop support covering advance advisory work, meeting-day operations, and post-meeting dispute response.

Tong-Gun Lee, Senior Partner at Shin & Kim and Head of the Corporate Governance Strategy Center, said: “An electronic shareholders’ meeting is more than a livestream of a conventional meeting. It requires companies to safeguard the rights of shareholders attending electronically in a meaningful way, while also ensuring that proceedings and resolutions are lawful and fair to shareholders attending in person. Building on our extensive experience in shareholders’ meetings and management control disputes, our proactive research, and our collaboration with platform operators and specialist service providers, Shin & Kim will deliver comprehensive solutions tailored to each company’s circumstances.”

Meanwhile, Shin & Kim’s Electronic Shareholders’ Meeting TF has researched the legal and practical issues surrounding electronic shareholders’ meetings since well before the system takes effect. Its findings were published as “Legal Issues and Operational Challenges of Electronic Shareholders’ Meetings under the Amended Commercial Act” in BFL No. 133 (September 2025), a comprehensive legal journal published by the Seoul National University Center for Financial Law. The TF also continues to share insights through its newsletters on the amended Commercial Act and its subordinate regulations, the steps companies need to take to prepare, and the operational issues likely to arise.