Case Analysis / Legal Updates

A Supreme Court decision has been issued that sets an important standard on when a loss arises where a party participates in an acquisition by relying on false financial information during a listed-company acquisition.The lower court held that the loss arose at the point when the securities companies underwrote the securities and paid the price during the listed-company acquisition, and it determined that the claim for damages, filed more than ten years thereafter, was extinguished by prescription.The Supreme Court likewise accepted this reasoning and held that in a listed-company acquisition, the loss does not arise after the transaction but has already actually arisen at the point when the acquisition price is paid. (Supreme Court, Decision of January 8, 2026, 2025 Da 211537 and 2025 Da 211538)

The 2025 customs audit results announced by the Korea Customs Service are data that show how the targets and methods of audits are changing. Regulatory violations account for most of the total amount detected, and the fact that violations of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act in particular make up a large share confirms that customs audits are no longer confined to the customs clearance stage but are expanding across the entire transaction structure.

Among criminal litigation costs, the fees for copying case records will be fully waived. As a systemic change that alters the very structure of the right of defense and participation in trials, it is expected to have a considerable impact on the course of criminal trials.

Beginning with a sharp surge in international oil prices, the disruption has spread to supply chain breakdowns and financial market instability, shaking the economy as a whole at the same time. With the government's emergency response now in motion, this situation is assessed not as a short-term shock but as a structural crisis that requires corporate strategy to be redesigned.

In the Tzuyang intimidation case, even after a three-year term of imprisonment was finalized, Gujeyeok's side has signaled a constitutional complaint against the judgment, and the structure of legal disputes following a final judgment is drawing attention.

Corporate consulting is needed so that manufacturing and ICT companies can diagnose their technology, data, contractual, and regulatory risks and proactively build a sustainable operating structure and a strategy for securing competitiveness.

In the Gangbuk motel serial murder case, generative AI search records from before the offense have been confirmed, and because the preparatory process and even the decision-making stages of the crime have become subject to investigation, considerable repercussions are continuing.The defendant, Kim So-young (hereinafter "Ms. Kim"), was found through investigation to have repeatedly confirmed the lethality of the drugs and the possibility of death through generative AI before increasing the dosage and proceeding to commit the offense.Accordingly, a full-scale discussion is now being raised on how the search activity and the awareness process at the stage prior to the offense may affect the determination of criminal liability.

ESG issues have become a structural regulatory matter that connects supply-chain maintenance, export transactions, investment attraction, disclosure responsibility, and even human-rights and environmental due-diligence obligations.

Wrongful receipt refers to a series of acts in which public funds, such as national treasury subsidies, are received through false or improper means, are used for purposes other than those intended, or are accompanied by the submission of materials inconsistent with the facts during the settlement process.

Whether paying attorney retainer fees from an organization's funds constitutes occupational embezzlement is a highly significant issue in practice.The Supreme Court held that, even in a case involving a representative personally, attorney retainer fees may be paid as an organization's expense where the dispute is closely related to the organization's business and the necessity of acting in the organization's interest is recognized.In this case, the issue was that the officers of an association paid attorney retainer fees from the association's funds to respond to a criminal case, but the Supreme Court found that no intent of unlawful acquisition was established and upheld the judgment of acquittal. (Supreme Court, Decision of July 10, 2014, 2012 Do 8274)

Senior notes are a key instrument used for large-scale fund-raising and the restructuring of debt on the basis of stable investor demand, and the importance of legal review, including the design of the issuance structure, is growing.

A court has held that, in order to continue maintaining an unfavorable exception for a specific region on the ground of collusion, the mere fact that the region was previously sanctioned by the Fair Trade Commission is insufficient, and that concrete grounds must be presented as to whether a structural risk of collusion still remains in that region at present and why it should be treated differently from other regions. (Seoul Administrative Court, Judgment of January 15, 2026, 2025 Guhap 53120)