Korean immigrant honored in Australia

Kang Ji-seok, 27, poses after receiving a plaque for being named a “Young Gun of the Year,” an honor given to young lawyers who achieve great success in the first few years in their profession, at the 15th Australia Law Awards ceremony at the Westin Sydney hotel in Australia on Sept. 17. / Yonhap

By Kim Hyo-jin

A Korean immigrant has won a prestigious Australian Law Award, one of the top honors in the country’s legal profession.

Kang Ji-seok, or Samuel Kang, 27, was named “Young Gun of the Year,” according to the event organizer, Lawyers Weekly. He is the first Korean to win the award.

The Australian Law Awards recognize 25 top lawyers from senior to junior ranks across the nation. The “Young Gun of the Year” is given to professionals who achieve outstanding performances during the first few years their legal careers.

“I guess the side of me working hard on whatever I take on was recognized,” Kang, who has four years’ experience as a lawyer, said.

He now works at Gilbert and Tobin, one of Australia’s premier corporate law firms specializing in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and banking and finance.

He has been credited for his performance in private equity investment and enterprise content management, which deals with a company’s organizational processes.

Kang migrated to Australia with his parents in his teens. After developing an interested in legal studies during his high school years, he majored in law at Flinders University in South Australia. He once worked as a law clerk at the Supreme Court, where he said he could nurture qualities to become a competent lawyer.

Kang is now doing a master’s degree at the Australian National University and concurrently teaches corporate law in the law department of the University of Sydney.

Kang, perfectly bilingual in Korean and English, said he visits Korea often for business.

“Whenever I visit, it feels great,” he said. “For me, it’s definitely one of the countries I want to live in.”

The young lawyer expressed his will to establish a bridge between Korea and Australia in the legal field.

“I know there are many Korean firms planning to enter into the Australian market,” he said. “I hope that I could play a bridging role in corporate management between the two countries.”