Hyundai Heavy Industries has appointed a new international general counsel following the exit of Jun Hee Kim to White & Case.

The world’s second largest shipbuilder has hired former Baker McKenzie partner Seong Soo Kim as its new general counsel of international legal team.

Before moving in-house, Seong Soo Kim was a senior foreign legal consultant at South Korean firm One Law Partners, where he spent almost two years. He joined the local firm from Bakers, where he was a partner in the banking and finance practice between 2013 and 2015 and helped the US firm launch its Seoul office. Prior to his time with Bakers, he spent 13 years with South Korea’s largest law firm Kim & Chang.

Qualified as an attorney in New York, he has over 20 years of experience in cross-border financing matters and international securities transactions.

Kim’s appointment comes shortly after the shipbuilding giant went through a major restructuring in May 2017. Since then, it has split into four companies in a bid to better cope with the prolonged global industry slump.

The four spin-off companies of the conglomerate focus on shipbuilding and offshore projects, electric machinery, construction equipment, and industrial robots respectively. They have a combined value of $14bn.