JIPYONG LLC

Of Counsel Yoomi Kim is an expert in regulation and administration in the bio and healthcare sector with over 18 years of service at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), where she oversaw safety policies for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and food.

After being appointed as the first lawyer to be specially recruited by the MFDS, she held key roles in major fields, including regulatory legal affairs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biopharmaceuticals, and food, and later served as the Director General for Planning and Coordination and as the Deputy Minister.

During her tenure, she promoted key policies and regulatory innovations, such as advancing the review system for pharmaceuticals and medical devices, global regulatory harmonization, responding to trade issues concerning imported foods, establishing an AI-based automated review system, and introducing tailored regulations for the digital healthcare and advanced bio sectors. She has also strengthened strategic cooperation with foreign regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA). Furthermore, her public policy experience across the National Assembly, the Office of the President, and the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) has given her broad and in-depth insight into policy development and implementation.

After retiring as the Deputy Minister of the MFDS in December 2024, she served as an adjunct professor at the College of Pharmacy at Seoul National University and the Department of Medical Device Industry at Dongguk University, while also acting as an advisory committee member for the Korea Regulatory Science Center. In December 2025, she joined Jipyong LLC as Of Counsel and has been providing comprehensive advice across the bio and healthcare sector, including market entry strategies, domestic and international regulatory risk management, and dispute resolution, from an integrated perspective connecting administration, legislation, and global regulatory cooperation.