The firm is currently finalising plans to hire local lawyers on the ground in Uzbekistan, and will also have a Korean lawyer working out of the new Tashkent office, Asian Legal Business reported.

Senior foreign legal consultant Jiyul Yoo said many Korean companies are expanding into Uzbekistan and neighbouring countries to participate in projects and construction, and that an opportunity exists for the firm to capture this outbound business by being a first mover.

The Tokyo office itself was only opened last year. It presently hosts just one lawyer on the ground, largely devoted to servicing existing inbound and outbound business from clients in Japan.

Yoo said the firm has traditionally had a large Japanese client base. The firm’s move abroad to Tokyo was part of a wave of Korean law firm office openings over the past year, including main attractions Vietnam and China.

The Uzbekistan office will be a further step in the firm’s outbound push.