Ahyoung Cho
Attorney Cho has served in Kim & Chang’s Environment and Maritime Practices. In this role she advises corporates and financial institutions across the environment, ocean and defence sectors on environmental law, marine law, energy and ESG matters. Her recent projects include leading green washing compliance reviews and advising on revisions to the Korean Green Taxonomy to align business activities with national carbon neutrality goals.
Before joining Kim & Chang she spent several years at the Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST), where she helped to revise Korea’s marine environmental legal system, built marine spatial planning frameworks, and served on the Republic of Korea’s delegation to the UN BBNJ PrepCom. She later worked at Seoul National University’s Law Research Institute, providing research and consultancy on climate change, circular economy, marine oil pollution and ESG. At Seoul National University’s Future Innovation Research Institute she developed deep learning algorithms using satellite imagery to detect wildfire damage.
Attorney Cho’s public service includes membership of the Marine Waste Management Council’s International Cooperation Subcommittee and contributions to government policy on waste management and marine protection. She has spoken at academic conferences on marine environment and climate change and published several articles on environmental and maritime law.
She holds a Ph.D. in law from Seoul National University, an LL.M. from Columbia Law School and a J.D. from Seoul National University. She was admitted to the Korean Bar in 2014 and continues to promote sustainable practices through strategic ESG and green finance advisory work.