On January 21st, 2009, Jisung Horizon announced that it opened a local branch office in Hanoi, Vietnam on the 13th day of the same month, upon acquiring approvals from relevant government authorities. The move, following the establishment of its local subsidiary in the Vietnamese capital of Ho Chi Min City in September, 2007, will expand the firm's operation to the entire Vietnamese legal practice market, now that the firm is running branch offices in the two largest cities of the Southeast Asian country. The recently launched Vietnamese branch will be headed by Mr. Ju-Hyun Kim, who was hired to the post because of his four years plus of working experience in Vietnam. In October, 2008, the firm hired Mr. Kim specifically for the move and its envisioned plan for business expansion in the country. As of January 21st, 2009, the Hanoi branch has Mr. Kim, two Vietnamese lawyers and four staff members. Jisung Horizon is now looking to bolster its competitiveness in the country's northern market, as it acknowledges a great potential in the local market as one of the major strategic fronts of Korean investors and exporters in various industries such as real property development, finance, securities, distribution, and manufacturing, despite the ongoing global economic downturn that has also been plaguing Vietnam.