Since beginning his legal career as a public-service advocate in 2004, Mr. Changhun Lee has built extensive experience as a legal practitioner. He is currently a partner at Shin & Kim, where he serves as a Head of the Investigation Team within the firm’s Antitrust & Competition Group. In 2021, he was appointed to Shin & Kim’s Management Committee and has since been actively involved in the firm’s management.

Early in his career as a public-service advocate, Mr. Lee handled various matters involving the Korean government and administrative agencies, including multiple cases relating to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between Korea and the United States. Since joining Shin & Kim in 2007, Mr. Lee has spent nearly two decades representing multinational clients before the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) and the courts across a wide range of antitrust and competition matters involving cartels, abuse of market dominance, unfair trade practices, improper subsidies, and subcontracting issues. He has also played leading roles in a number of high-profile disputes with significant public and social implications.

Mr. Lee has an extensive track record in high-profile domestic and international antitrust matters and is widely recognized by clients for his strategic acumen, exceptional command of complex cases, and unwavering client advocacy—often described as “shark-like” for its tenacity and determination. He rose to prominence in a landmark abuse-of-dominance investigation involving a global semiconductor company, widely regarded as a defining case in Korean competition law. Moreover, in a notable cartel dispute, he represented a global electronics manufacturer and secured a complete victory against multiple major law firms, defeating the restitution claims in their entirety. Substantial portions of his written submissions were cited verbatim in the court’s judgment.

Reflecting his standing in the field of antitrust and competition law, Mr. Lee currently serves as a Planning Director of the Korean Competition Law Association, a Steering Committee Member of the Seoul National University Center for Competition Law, and a Director of the Korea Competition Forum. Since 2019, he has also been invited by Chambers and Partners to contribute to the Korea chapter of the annual Chambers Global Practice Guide covering cartel and antitrust litigation.

Mr. Lee passed the New York State Bar Examination after completing his studies in the United States and subsequently gained experience working at the global law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP.

• Represented a multinational semiconductor company and a Korean automobile company in abuse of market dominance cases
• Represented Group S and Group H in unfair assistance cases
• Represented a multinational automobile manufacturer, a Korean credit card company, and a Korean construction company in cartel cases and related damages lawsuits
• Represented a Korean automobile company in an unfair trade practice case
• Represented a Korean insurance company, a Korean bank, a Korean cable manufacturer, and Korean construction companies in cartel cases
• Represented Company Y and Company H in the defense sector in cartel cases
• Represented Company D in a bid-rigging case
• Represented a Korean construction company in an unfair labeling and advertising case
• Represented a Korean construction company in an unfair subcontracting case
• Represented the General Insurance Association of Korea in an unfair trade practice case
• Represented Company S in resale price maintenance and unfair trade practice cases
• Represented a Korean construction company in an unfair subcontracting case
• Represented several Korean automobile manufacturers in an emissions-related lawsuit
• Represented a Korean tire manufacturer in a dispute over discontinuation of operations
• Represented a Korean oil refining company in a dispute over settlement of payment
• Represented a Korean bank in a KIKO-related dispute
• Represented a Korean university in a dispute over the licensing and approval of a branch campus and urban development planning