Yong Jin Kim
Thesis title: Rebuilding the Legal Framework for Co-operative Businesses
PhD supervisors:
Background
Yong Jin has considerable experience as a public interest lawyer, having worked with Duroo, a public interest lawyer group in South Korea. During his five years at Duroo, he primarily supported socioeconomic organizations, including cooperatives, social enterprises, and social ventures. In 2020, he joined Deoham, a Korean law firm specializing in Social Economy Law and Public Policy, where he is dedicated to addressing the legal challenges faced by social entrepreneurs and enhancing the cooperative legal framework. He believes that corporations with a democratic structure can significantly contribute to society in the long term. Yong Jin earned a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2023. That same year, he was honored as a government-funded student by the Korean government and is presently pursuing studies at the University of Edinburgh. His doctoral thesis focuses on developing the legal system to ensure mutuality and openness in cooperatives.
In addition to cooperative law, he has actively engaged in several public interest legislative studies, including establishing standards for judging human rights violations, as commissioned by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, and conducting research on deinstitutionalizing the disabled, as commissioned by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea. Furthermore, he and his Duroo colleagues have challenged potentially unconstitutional statutes, including the provision that formed the basis of the disciplinary confinement system of the ROK Armed Forces and the provision of the Public Official Election Act that imposed excessive deposits on proportional representatives, resulting in three of them being declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Korea. In addition, in recognition of their efforts in winning a lawsuit against the Ministry of National Defense, representing four landmine victims in Korea—a lawsuit that challenged the denial of consolation payments—they were awarded the Public Interest Award at the Korea Legal Awards in 2020.
Qualifications
- LL.M., University of Pennsylvania Law School, United States, 2023
- J.D., Sogang University Law School, South Korea, 2014
- LL.B., Yonsei University College of Law, South Korea, 2011
- Admitted to the Korean Bar, 2014
Responsibilities & affiliations
Sogang Law School Student Council President (2012)
Current research interests
Cooperative law, corporate governance, and legal frameworks for the social and solidarity economyInvited speaker
- Panelist, National Assembly Policy Forum on Improving the Legal System for Independence and Sustainability of Consumer Cooperatives, co-hosted by Eui Dong Yu, Jin Gyo Bae, and Hyung Bae Min, members of the National Assembly of Korea (Nov 18, 2020)
- Panelist, National Assembly Policy Forum on Amendments to the Consumer Cooperatives Act, co-hosted by the National Assembly Forum for the Social Economy and the iCoop Consumer Cooperative Federation (Dec 4, 2019)
- Panelist, Roundtable on Cultivating Future Public Interest Lawyers, hosted by the Korean Public Interest Lawyers Group (Nov 15, 2018)
- Panelist, National Assembly Policy Forum on Enacting the Act for Social Impact Bonds, co-hosted by Woonyoul Choi and I-bae Choi, members of the National Assembly of Korea (Aug 16, 2018)
- Speaker, Experts’ Discussion on Policies for Deinstitutionalizing the Disabled, hosted by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (Feb 7, 2018)
- Panelist, Roundtable on Pro Bono Activities for the Social Economy, hosted by the Seoul Bar Association (September 26, 2017)
- “The Tax Treatment of Cooperatives in Korea: A Lack of Consideration of Cooperatives’ Structural Characteristics and Suggestions for Improvement,” Yong Jin Kim, The International Journal of Cooperative Law, Issue IV (2022, written in English).
- “Establishing Standards of Identifying Human Rights Violations,” Seong Cheol Park, Jeong Eun Kang, Yong Jin Kim, Jin Kim, Han Eul Ma, Bo Young Park, Sun Hee Eum, Sang Hyun Lee, Sun Min Lee, Ju Eun Lee, Han Jae Lee, Da Hye Cheong, Hyun Young Ji & Cho Rok Choi, National Human Rights Commission of Korea (2020, written in Korean).
- “A Legal Analysis on the Framework Act on Cooperatives,” Yong Jin Kim, Young Sun Song & Sun Min Lee, Korea Legislation Research Institute (2020, written in Korean).
- “Improvement of the Cooperative Legal Framework for Realizing Social Values,” Yong Jin Kim, Issue Paper 19-19, Korea Legislation Research Institute (2019, written in Korean).
- “Methods for Supporting the Independent Living and Housing for the Disabled,” Dong Chul Yu, Mi Ok Kim, Bo Young Kim, Yong Jin Kim, Jung Ha Kim, Suk Kyung Park, Sang Yong Yoon, Jue Un Lee, Wang Jae Lee, Keun Bae Jeon, Jin Jeong, Ah Ra Cho, In Ok Hong & Hye Jin Cho, Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea (2018, written in Korean).
- “Public Interest Litigation Manual,” Hyung Guk Yeom, Sun Hyu Kim, Yong Jin Kim, Ae Ran Park, Sang Gyo Song, Sang Hee Lee & Hyun Jung Choi, Seoul Bar Association (2018, written in Korean).
- “Designing Policies for Deinstitutionalizing the Disabled,” Suk Kyung Park, Myeong Yun Kim, Yong Jin Kim, Na Young Koo, Hyuk Moon, Ji Sun Park, Jin Jung, Chang Su Jung & Ah Ra Cho, National Human Rights Commission of Korea (2017, written in Korean).