Sejong Launches Korea's First "AI·Digital Competition Law Team" Among Major Law Firms

On April 8, Sejong LLC announced that it has launched the "AI·Digital Competition Law Team," the first among major law firms in Korea, to address emerging competition law issues in the rapidly growing AI and digital industrial landscape.

Changhoon Lee, Attorney. Sejong

According to Sejong, as the digital industry continues to advance, the entire AI sector—from development infrastructure to consumer-facing AI services—is evolving and expanding rapidly. In response, a diverse range of players, including global big tech companies, major Korean corporations, medium-sized enterprises, and startups, are actively pursuing technology innovation, strategic alliances, and business expansion to secure competitiveness in the AI and digital markets.

At the same time, both domestic and international competition authorities are closely monitoring how the actions of AI and digital market participants affect market structures and consumer welfare. Major antitrust regulators have already begun conducting studies and research on the AI and digital markets and are reviewing in detail whether the actions of individual companies are restrictive of competition.

However, there is still a lack of well-established legal precedents for how the various business strategies emerging in the AI and digital markets should be evaluated and regulated under competition law. As a result, companies in relevant industries are increasingly required to carefully scrutinize regulatory risks under competition law before formulating and executing their AI and digital strategies.

In this context, Sejong has established the "AI·Digital Competition Law Team" as a specialized organization that conducts in-depth analysis of AI and digital industries from the perspective of competition law and focuses on regulatory risk management, in contrast to other major law firms that mainly respond through general AI centers.

Through its "AI·Digital Competition Law Team," Sejong plans to provide services addressing a wide range of issues in the AI and digital industries, including: competition issues surrounding key infrastructure such as AI semiconductors and cloud computing; concentration of training data and computing resources; integration between major platforms and AI services; exclusivity concerns in the embedding and distribution of AI models; competition law risks associated with strategic investments, alliances, and ecosystem expansion; exercise of platform dominance; access to data and key infrastructure; vertical integration during interoperability and ecosystem expansion; and concerns about algorithm-based restrictions of competition.

The team is led by Changhoon Lee, Attorney (Judicial Research and Training Institute, 33rd class). Over the past two decades, Attorney Lee has handled major domestic and international antitrust cases and has been highly regarded by clients in various fields for his deep understanding of complex competition law issues and strategic response capabilities. He also demonstrates expertise bridging practice and academia, serving as Planning Director of the Korean Association of Competition Law, External Cooperation Director of the Platform Law and Policy Association, Executive Board Member of the Seoul National University Competition Law Center, and Director of the Korea Competition Forum.

Joonhyuk Choi, Foreign Attorney (U.S.), who heads Sejong’s Global Strategy Division, is also a key member of the team. With approximately 30 years of experience in antitrust law, Choi has handled numerous global competition law cases and has been recognized as a Tier 1 expert in the field by major legal ranking institutions.

Other key practitioners include Hyuna Kim, Foreign Attorney (U.S.); Kyutae Park (44th class); Seungjun Woo (Bar Exam, 5th session); Taeseok Kim (Bar Exam, 7th session); and Jaei Kim (Bar Exam, 7th session)—all experts with deep knowledge of the AI and digital industries and strong competition law expertise, who will be responsible for hands-on work and strengthening the team's response capabilities.

In addition, Senior Advisor Cheolho Ji, former Vice Chairman of the Korea Fair Trade Commission, and Senior Advisor Inho Lee, an expert in economic analysis, are joining the team to provide multidimensional counsel encompassing the perspectives of regulatory authorities and sophisticated, data-driven economic analysis.

Changhoon Lee, Attorney, remarked, "As competition authorities both at home and abroad are approaching AI and digital market regulation with new perspectives and standards that differ from traditional competition law, companies need to proactively and meticulously examine competition law issues from the stage of business strategy planning. Sejong will leverage its accumulated competition law insight and experience in the AI and digital sectors to present strategic response plans, enabling our clients to maintain sustainable competitiveness amid a changing competitive environment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.