黄圭晧

Mr. Kyuho Hwang is a partner at Shin & Kim, where his practice focuses on trade secrets and industrial technology, privacy and data, product liability, intellectual property, and regulatory matters involving startups and artificial intelligence (AI).

Mr. Hwang studied mechanical and aerospace engineering at Seoul National University and earned a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University before attending Seoul National University School of Law. He is qualified as both an attorney and a patent attorney in Korea. Combined with this background, his prior experience working as an engineer in both industry and a research institute enables him to excel in complex technology disputes and regulatory matters that require both technical understanding and legal expertise.

In particular, Mr. Hwang has handled numerous trade secret misappropriation and industrial technology leakage cases involving advanced technologies, including materials, cells and modules for electric vehicle batteries, national core technologies relating to the manufacture of LNG carriers, and automotive AI processors (NPUs). His experience also includes patent infringement disputes involving semiconductor manufacturing equipment and materials and automotive components, as well as employee invention compensation disputes involving steelmaking technologies. He has also advised on a wide range of technology protection matters, including export approvals for national core technologies and strategic items.

Mr. Hwang also has extensive experience handling major accident cases and product liability disputes requiring detailed analysis of technical causation and liability. These matters have involved explosions of turbines and generators at thermal power plants and of hydrogen tanks; secondary battery fires in energy storage systems (ESS) and electric vehicles, and data center fires; automotive emissions and product defects; and helicopter crashes. His practice also encompasses data-related disputes involving personal data breaches at credit card companies and cryptocurrency exchange hacking incidents, as well as privacy issues arising in emerging technology environments, including the integration of medical information and medical devices with AI services.

Mr. Hwang previously served as Head of Legal Planning at a medical device startup, where he gained first-hand experience in the company’s growth and preparations for an initial public offering. Drawing on this in-house experience, he advises startups at various stages of growth on matters ranging from technology portfolios and trade secret protection to investments and M&A, multiple-voting shares, stock options and restricted stock units (RSUs), joint ventures, and shareholders’ agreements.

Mr. Hwang is also actively involved in policy and regulatory discussions concerning AI, privacy and intellectual property. He serves on several committees and advisory bodies, including the Personal Information Protection Commission’s AI Privacy Public-Private Policy Council, Personal Information Regulatory Review Committee, and Policy Research Review Committee, and also serves as legal counsel to the Ministry of Intellectual Property. In 2025, he received a Ministerial Commendation from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups for his contributions to addressing legal and regulatory challenges faced by startups.

Trade Secrets and Industrial Technology

• Advised and represented a major Korean manufacturer in civil and criminal litigation concerning the misappropriation of trade secrets relating to electric vehicle battery materials, cells, modules, packs, and testing and inspection processes
• Represented a major Korean manufacturer in criminal proceedings concerning the unauthorized disclosure of state-designated national core technology used in the manufacture of LNG carriers, and in civil litigation concerning the validity of related patented technology
• Advised and represented a multinational manufacturer in criminal litigation concerning the misappropriation of trade secrets relating to automotive neural processing units (NPUs)
• Represented a major Korean manufacturer in civil and criminal litigation concerning the misappropriation of its trade secrets by former employees and a competitor
• Advised a Korean small and medium-sized manufacturer on obtaining export approvals for state-designated national core technology and strategic items

Privacy and Data Protection

• Represented a Korean credit card company in civil litigation arising from a personal data breach
• Advised a Korean healthcare information distribution platform on establishing a privacy compliance framework
• Advised on establishing a privacy compliance framework for information collected by medical devices
• Advised on integrating artificial intelligence services into software as a medical device (SaMD)
• Advised on the exchange of healthcare information in collaborative clinical research
• Advised on the installation and operation of video surveillance devices
• Represented a client in criminal litigation concerning violations involving the processing of personal video information

Product Liability

• Represented a multinational manufacturer in civil litigation arising from explosions involving turbines and generators at a thermal power plant
• Represented a major Korean construction company in defect litigation concerning catalytic and dust collection systems at a thermal power plant
• Represented a mid-sized Korean manufacturer in civil and criminal litigation arising from a hydrogen tank explosion
• Represented a mid-sized Korean manufacturer in civil litigation arising from fires involving batteries used in energy storage systems and electric vehicles
• Represented a major Korean manufacturer in civil litigation arising from a self-propelled howitzer explosion
• Advised and represented a major Korean manufacturer in civil litigation arising from a data center fire
• Advised and represented a foreign-invested manufacturer in civil and criminal litigation concerning automobile emissions manipulation
• Represented a foreign-invested manufacturer in civil litigation concerning automobile defects, malfunctions, and related damages
• Represented a major Korean manufacturer in civil litigation arising from a helicopter crash
• Represented a mid-sized Korean manufacturer in civil litigation concerning defects in a systems integration project
• Represented a major Korean construction company in civil litigation concerning building defects
• Represented a cryptocurrency exchange in civil litigation arising from server outages and a hacking incident

Intellectual Property

• Advised and represented a foreign-invested manufacturer in patent invalidation proceedings and civil and criminal litigation concerning the infringement of automotive component patents
• Represented a mid-sized Korean manufacturer in civil and criminal patent infringement litigation concerning semiconductor manufacturing equipment and materials
• Represented a mid-sized Korean software developer in patent infringement litigation concerning a payment and settlement system
• Advised a mid-sized Korean manufacturer on patent filing strategies for semiconductor equipment
• Represented a major Korean manufacturer in civil litigation concerning employee invention compensation claims relating to steelmaking technology

Startups

• Advised startups on M&A transactions, legal due diligence, and transaction agreements, including share purchase agreements and shareholders’ agreements
• Advised startups on the issuance of multiple-vote shares and the granting of stock options and restricted stock units (RSUs)
• Advised on strategies for preserving corporate equity ownership and preventing dilution
• Advised on the establishment of joint ventures and the negotiation of shareholders’ agreements
• Advised on structuring international collaborative research and development projects and negotiating related agreements