Seong Wook Han is a senior foreign attorney at Shin & Kim, specializing in cross-border and domestic transactions in the energy, resources and infrastructure sectors. His expertise includes mergers and acquisitions, foreign direct investments, joint ventures and commodity trading, in addition to general corporate and commercial matters.

With extensive experience in corporate business law at LG Group and LX International over twenty years, Mr. Han has focused on cross-border transactions in the energy, infrastructure, and mining industries. He has successfully advised on high-stakes acquisitions, including both minority and majority stakes, across various sectors, such as oil & gas, mines (coal, copper, cobalt, nickel and lithium) mines, petrochemical plants, and power plants, with projects spanning Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East. His expertise also extends to navigating complex international sanctions, force majeure issues, and compliance with global regulatory standards.

Mr. Han has also provided legal counsel in shareholder disputes, disputes with host governments, market claims, and EPC related disputes. He has managed arbitrations under KCAB, CIETAC, and SIAC rules, and litigations in various jurisdictions including Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, China, Turkey, UAE, Colombia, the Philippines, Czech, and Oman collaborating with outside counsels throughout his tenure at LG and LX.

Mr. Han, who is a native Korean speaker and fluent in English, is an active member of several professional associations, including Korea International Trade Law Association (KITLA) and Korea Private International Law Association (KPILA).

M&A

• Advised on acquiring minority stakes in ventures within the mid and downstream segments of the battery supply chain with a leading Chinese nickel producer in Indonesia
• Advised on the acquisition of majority stakes in a listed Indonesian company owning nickel mines in Indonesia
• Negotiated and documented for acquisition of majority stakes in a biomass cogeneration plant operator in Korea
• Advised on the acquisition of majority stakes in the coal mine in Indonesia
• Advised on the acquisition of majority stakes in several Indonesian companies operating palm plantations
• Negotiated and documented for acquisition of minority stakes in an international oil company with the assets in Chile and Colombia
• Advised on establishing joint ventures for exploring greenfield oil and gas assets in Kazakhstan with a national oil company and a Korean consortium

Joint Venture/Outbound Investment

• Advised on a majority stake investment in an Independent Power Producer (IPP) hydro power plant project in Indonesia
• Advised on a minority stake investment in an IPP gas-fueled power plant project in Oman
• Negotiated and documented multi-million-dollar transactions for the acquisition of distressed polymetallic (copper and zinc) mines in the Philippines
• Advised on multi-million-dollar petrochemical plant construction projects in Oman, including aromatics, polypropylene, PTA, and PET

Corporate and other

• Advised on international sanction issues related to coal sales agreements
• Advised on force majeure issues related to coal sales agreements involving Indonesian parties
• Reviewed, negotiated, and revised commercial contracts, including sales and rebate contracts, as well as distributor and agency contracts

Dispute Resolution

• Advised on disputes with an Indonesian partner regarding the operation of jointly owning coal mines in Indonesia
• Advised on disputes with Chinese partners regarding coal mines in Inner Mongolia, China
• Advised on and managed a criminal case in the Middle East involving a company executive charged with corruption
• Advised on multi-million-dollar disputes involving the non-delivery of Russian helicopters, focusing on debt collection and compliance with the Korean Foreign Exchange Transactions Act
• Advised on and managed litigation in Colombia regarding the alleged wrongful termination of an agency
• Advised on and managed litigation in Turkey regarding the alleged non-performance of a contract for the supply of steel goods