Shearman expands to South Korea

Shearman & Sterling has expanded to South Korea, opening its sixth office in Asia in Seoul.

The firm has tasked partner Anna Chung to lead the office, which will also be home base for counsel Scott Baggett and an associate.

The firm said that the Seoul team will focus on advising Korean clients on a full range of project-related work across the power, LNG, oil and gas, and petrochemical sectors. It will also work closely with teams in the firm’s other offices on Korea-related arbitration, antitrust, and fund matters, the firm added.

In Asia, Shearman & Sterling also has offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo.

“The launch of our Seoul office advances our strategic objective of increasing the work we do for Korean corporates, export credit agencies, and banks,” said William McCormack, Asia regional managing partner. “Anna’s Korean language skills, cultural background, and her extensive experience leading some of the most challenging projects across Asia make her a great fit to launch our new office.”

Chung explained why the office launch is timely.

“Korean financial institutions and corporates are playing an increasingly prevalent role in the international project finance market. Building a team on the ground in Korea allows us to provide the international projects insight to help support this growth. I look forward to working more closely with our existing clients and building new relationships,” she said.

Both Chung and Baggett were most recently based in Singapore. Chung, who joined Shearman & Sterling in 2006 in London from Corrs Chambers Westgarth, also previously worked out of the firm’s Shanghai office.