# Suh Hee Han

> Suh Hee Han is a person that is a South Korean lawyer who advises on digital asset regulation, compliance and tokenized securities and serves as Partner and Co‑Head of the Virtual Asset Team at Lee & Ko.

- Canonical URL: https://iq.wiki/wiki/suh-hee-han
- Categories: People in crypto
- Tags: Advisor, Researcher
- Created: 2026-08-29T22:18:50.836Z
- Last updated: 2026-08-29T22:18:50.836Z
- Source: IQ.wiki — the world's largest blockchain and crypto encyclopedia (https://iq.wiki)

---

**Suh Hee Han** (Korean: 한서희; Hanja: 韓瑞姬), also romanized as Han Seo-hee, is a South Korean attorney specializing in [digital assets](https://iq.wiki/wiki/digital-assets) and digital finance law. She is a partner at Lee & Ko (also transliterated as Gwangjang), one of Korea's largest law firms, where she serves as Co-Head of the Virtual Asset Team within the firm's [Digital Assets](https://iq.wiki/wiki/digital-assets) Center.[[1]](#cite-id-mfas8ssydk)​[[2]](#cite-id-l5bqxcatwe) Admitted to the Korean Bar in 2010, she has more than ten years of experience advising clients on the full lifecycle of digital asset and digital finance businesses, focusing on regulatory compliance, market entry, and risk management.[[1]](#cite-id-mfas8ssydk) Chambers and Partners has described her as a "first-generation digital asset specialist" whose academic background in the field informs her regulatory practice.[[3]](#cite-id-4q1oe63j6d)​

## Early Life and Education
Han attended Daewon Foreign Language High School, graduating in 1999.[[4]](#cite-id-shbwnifhrq) She then studied law at Seoul National University, earning a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from its College of Law, and passed the 49th Korean Judicial Examination in 2007.[[1]](#cite-id-mfas8ssydk) She completed the Judicial Research & Training Institute of the Supreme Court of Korea as a member of its 39th class in 2010, the year she was admitted to the Korean Bar.[[5]](#cite-id-ng26ujgsnt)​[[2]](#cite-id-l5bqxcatwe)​

After qualifying as a lawyer, she continued her graduate studies at Seoul National University's Graduate School of Law, completing a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in 2014 with a concentration in economic law; her master's thesis addressed the abuse of market-dominant position by standard-essential patent holders.[[1]](#cite-id-mfas8ssydk)​[[4]](#cite-id-shbwnifhrq) In 2023 she received a Doctor of Laws (Ph.D.) from the same institution, specializing in financial regulation. Her doctoral dissertation, completed in August 2023 and titled "A Study on the Regulation of [Digital Assets](https://iq.wiki/wiki/digital-assets) under the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act," brought her scholarly research directly into the field in which she practices.[[3]](#cite-id-4q1oe63j6d)​[[6]](#cite-id-g3dniob466)​

## Career
Han's professional career began in 2010 at Daewoo Securities Co., Ltd., before she moved into legal practice.[[1]](#cite-id-mfas8ssydk) In addition to her legal work, she is fluent in Korean and English.[[6]](#cite-id-g3dniob466)

### Barun Law
Han joined Barun Law LLC (법무법인(유한) 바른) in 2011, where she practiced until 2026.[[1]](#cite-id-mfas8ssydk) During this period she rose to constituent partner (구성원변호사) and led the firm's Digital Asset and Innovation Industry Team.[[4]](#cite-id-shbwnifhrq)[[7]](#cite-id-hl7rq02ow2) At Barun she developed a practice focused on innovation industries, including virtual assets, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), MyData, electronic financial services, autonomous driving, and artificial intelligence, and provided legal review and business-structure consulting for trading, custody, asset management, and brokerage operations in the virtual asset sector.[[4]](#cite-id-shbwnifhrq)

During her time at Barun, Han handled a series of documented matters in the emerging virtual asset industry. She secured a win in the Cyworld cryptocurrency issuance injunction case and obtained a non-prosecution (no-charge) disposition in a virtual-currency-related criminal case.[[4]](#cite-id-shbwnifhrq) She also won a case in which a damages claim alleged that virtual asset activity violated the Capital Markets Act, obtaining a court ruling that no violation had occurred, and prevailed on damages claims brought by users who lost cryptocurrency in an exchange hacking.[[4]](#cite-id-shbwnifhrq) Her advisory work included the virtual asset service provider registration of BASIC Research Co., Ltd. under the Specific Financial Information Act, guidance for the Busan [Blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) Regulation Free Zone, a financial regulatory sandbox mandate for a major securities firm, and reviews of whether NFTs issued by game companies constitute virtual assets.[[4]](#cite-id-shbwnifhrq) She additionally advised the Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service on legislation for a Digital Asset Basic Act, and represented the Financial Services Commission itself, overturning a first-instance decision on appeal in a case concerning the suspension of enforcement of a determination regarding an insolvent financial institution.[[4]](#cite-id-shbwnifhrq)

### Lee & Ko
In 2026 Han moved to Lee & Ko, which recruited her to strengthen its capabilities in the digital asset sector.[[2]](#cite-id-l5bqxcatwe) She was appointed Co-Head (co-team leader) of the firm's [Digital Assets](https://iq.wiki/wiki/digital-assets) Center, which was formed by expanding and reorganizing the firm's existing digital asset team and its virtual asset regulation and investigation team.[[2]](#cite-id-l5bqxcatwe) Alongside her, the center is led by attorneys Yoon Jong-soo and Hong Eun-pyo as co-directors—Yoon, a former judge who advises DAXA and the cultural finance division of the FinTech Industry Association, and Hong, a former judge of 20 years who serves as president of [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) law—with Choi Woo-young and Han named as further co-directors.[[2]](#cite-id-l5bqxcatwe) Kim Sang-gon, chief executive of Lee & Ko, said the firm "further strengthened the power of the Gwangjang Digital Asset Center by recruiting Han Seo-hee, an expert in digital assets," and pledged continued investment in talent to lead the industry.[[2]](#cite-id-l5bqxcatwe)

At Lee & Ko, Han is listed as a key contact for the [Digital Assets](https://iq.wiki/wiki/digital-assets) Center, with practice areas spanning digital finance, banking, capital markets, capital markets compliance, financial compliance, non-banking financial institutions, and banking and financial holding companies.[[8]](#cite-id-m3uu1gbo8c) Her responsibilities include advising on [stablecoins](https://iq.wiki/wiki/stablecoin), the reporting and authorization of digital asset operators and their new businesses, and financial companies' entry into the digital industry.[[2]](#cite-id-l5bqxcatwe)

### Digital Asset and Digital Finance Practice
The firm states that Han's practice spans advisory and dispute matters across the full lifecycle of digital asset and digital finance businesses. Her digital asset work includes regulatory advice on new business initiatives of virtual asset service providers, their registration and reporting filings, [anti-money laundering (AML)](https://iq.wiki/wiki/anti-money-laundering-aml) programs and internal control frameworks, and compliance related to the Information Security Management System (ISMS) and its extended personal-information variant (ISMS-P).[[1]](#cite-id-mfas8ssydk) She has advised on financial institutions' entry into the digital asset business, overseas [stablecoin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/stablecoin) issuance projects, and legal analyses of the nature and classification of digital assets, and has represented clients in civil and criminal proceedings involving virtual asset service providers, including unfair-trading matters before the Virtual Asset Investigation Review Committee.[[6]](#cite-id-g3dniob466) The firm reports that she has also advised on establishing digital asset trading platforms (DATs).[[1]](#cite-id-mfas8ssydk)

In digital finance, Han has advised electronic financial transaction service providers and credit card companies entering the digital asset business, the latter under the Specialized Credit Financial Business Act. She has worked on the issuance and distribution of [tokenized securities](https://iq.wiki/wiki/tokenized-securities) through designation as an Innovative Financial Service Provider under the Special Act on Support for Financial Innovation, a mechanism that allows new products to be piloted within a regulatory sandbox, and has structured investment-contract securities issuances and prepared the associated securities registration statement filings.[[6]](#cite-id-g3dniob466) According to reporting on her career, Han has been active in digital asset, token securities, and fintech matters since 2017, having advised on domestic and foreign virtual currency disclosure and initial coin offerings (ICOs) when the digital financial ecosystem first emerged, and later worked on business-operator reporting, overseas [stablecoin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/stablecoin) issuance, and Virtual Asset Investigation Review Committee responses following the enactment of Korea's Digital Asset Act.[[2]](#cite-id-l5bqxcatwe)

## Committee and Advisory Roles
Han has held a range of positions on government task forces, regulatory committees, and professional associations, several of which placed her at the center of Korea's development of virtual asset regulation. In 2019 she participated in the Financial Services Commission working group that revised the Specific Financial Information Act (특정금융정보법개정TF), the effort credited with the first inclusion of the term "virtual asset" in Korean law.[[4]](#cite-id-shbwnifhrq) She continued this involvement on the 2020 Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) task force on follow-up measures to that amendment, the 2021–2022 Financial Services Commission Task Force for Capital Markets and [Tokenized Securities](https://iq.wiki/wiki/tokenized-securities), the 2022 Capital Markets and Securities [Status](https://iq.wiki/wiki/status) Determination Committee, and the 2023 Financial Supervisory Service Task Force for Virtual Asset Supervision.[[5]](#cite-id-ng26ujgsnt) She also served as an external advisor to the Financial Services Commission for two years beginning in 2021.[[4]](#cite-id-shbwnifhrq)

Her ongoing appointments include:

- Member, Personal Information & Information Security Management System (ISMS-P) Certification Committee, Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), from 2025.[[1]](#cite-id-mfas8ssydk)
- Director, Financial Law Committee, Korean Bar Association, from 2024.[[1]](#cite-id-mfas8ssydk)
- Member, Clearing & Settlement Advisory Committee, Korea Securities Depository, from 2024.[[5]](#cite-id-ng26ujgsnt)
- Member, Special Committee on IT and [Blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain), Korean Bar Association, from 2019, where she chaired Subcommittee 2.[[4]](#cite-id-shbwnifhrq)
- Director, Korean Association for Artificial Intelligence and Law, from 2019.[[6]](#cite-id-g3dniob466)
- Director, [Blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) Law Society, from 2018.[[7]](#cite-id-hl7rq02ow2)
- Legal Advisory Member, Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), from 2017.[[1]](#cite-id-mfas8ssydk)

In addition to these ongoing roles, she was an advisory member of the Korea Blockchain Association from 2018 to 2021.[[6]](#cite-id-g3dniob466) Earlier in her career she served as a legal advisor to the [Foundation](https://iq.wiki/wiki/foundation) for Startups, the Korea Women Venture Association, and the Korea Creative Content Agency from 2017.[[4]](#cite-id-shbwnifhrq)

## Scholarship and Publications
Han's academic work centers on the regulatory treatment of digital assets under Korea's securities and capital markets framework. Her Chambers profile notes that her practice brings academic depth to work under the Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users (VAUPA) and the Capital Markets Act.[[3]](#cite-id-4q1oe63j6d) She has contributed to Chambers and Partners' Global Practice Guides with articles titled "[Blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) & CryptoAssets Law and Practice in South Korea" and "Fintech Trends and Developments in South Korea."[[3]](#cite-id-4q1oe63j6d)

Beyond her 2023 doctoral dissertation, her published research includes two 2025 studies on the protection and external custody of users' virtual assets—one in the Trust Law Review (Vol. 7, No. 1, The Korea Trust Association) and one in The Korean Journal of Securities Law (Vol. 26, No. 1).[[1]](#cite-id-mfas8ssydk) In December 2023 she published "A Legal Analysis of Unfair Trading Practices under the Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users" in The Korean Journal of Securities Law (Vol. 24, No. 3).[[6]](#cite-id-g3dniob466) Earlier works include a 2022 study for the Korea Legislation Research Institute on decentralized autonomous organizations' fundraising and ICOs, an April 2022 analysis of overseas [Bitcoin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/bitcoin) exchange-traded fund (ETF) cases and prospects for introducing [Bitcoin ETFs](https://iq.wiki/wiki/bitcoin-etfs) in Korea, and a September 2022 article on the criteria for determining the securities status of digital assets, published in BFL by the Center for Financial Law at Seoul National University.[[5]](#cite-id-ng26ujgsnt) Her earlier scholarship, before she concentrated on digital assets, addressed competition law, including works on FRAND declarations and information exchange as concerted practice published in 2013.[[4]](#cite-id-shbwnifhrq)

## Awards and Recognition
In 2024 Han received the Minister of Science and ICT Award for contributions to [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain).[[1]](#cite-id-mfas8ssydk) In 2023 she was named among the Rising Stars by Legal Times.[[6]](#cite-id-g3dniob466)