South Korean law firm Horizon Law Group has announced it will open its first foreign office in Shanghai next month after receiving approval from the PRC government.

The firm already has Chinese lawyers on the ground in Shanghai in preparation for the official opening, with the firm's partner and China specialist Jeong Sig Choi relocating to the city to head up the venture. Two Chinese attorneys will work in Shanghai under Choi.

In an exclusive interview, Horizon Law Group foreign legal consultant Sung-Ho Moon told ALB the firm has been planning to open an office in China ever since the firm was established back in 2000 and has retained one or two Chinese lawyers as part of its practice since 2001 with this eventual goal in mind. "We recruited Jeong Sig Choi in 2001, when he was interested specifically in going into the Chinese market, and we've been preparing and setting up for the office since last year," Moon said.

The firm had originally planned to open the office in 2006, but encountered some "unexpected red tape" from the Chinese government, meaning it took two years for the group to finally get the new office approved. Moon said Shanghai was chosen over Beijing as there was less direct competition in the financial centre. Currently, three of South Korea's biggest firms have offices in Beijing, leaving Shanghai relatively open.

Horizon Law Group's prior China-related work has comprised mostly of outbound investment from Korea. One such deal was helping Daewoo Shipping establish a joint venture in China to build a shipyard valued at over US$100m. On the inbound side, the firm advised China Construction Bank when it established a branch office in Seoul.

"We will just be building on our existing client base, which is mostly Korean, and hopefully we can expand to include other Asian clients," Moon explained.