Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy has opened a representative office in Seoul, as the New York firm continues its aggressive expansion across Asia.

The base is Milbank's twelfth globally and fifth in the region, allowing the firm to compete with its magic circle and US rivals for project finance, cross border disputes and corporate work on the ground.

It will be headed by existing Milbank partner and Korean native Young Joon Kim, who began his career with the US firm in New York, but for the past decade has been based in the firm's Hong Kong office. He was previously managing partner of Milbank's Tokyo office for six years.

Milbank is now the 21st firm to open in South Korea since it permitted the entry of foreign firms in 2012.

The country is now just two years away from opening up its local legal market to US firms, and one year away for UK outfits.

Last year saw similar ventures by Stephenson Harwood, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Bird & Bird and Taylor Wessing.

News of the firm's plans to launch in the capital Seoul were revealed by Legal Week in November, when it emerged that rival project finance specialist firm Latham & Watkins was also looking at the market.

Both US firms had until recently handled all of their Korean work from their other regional offices, but have recently been reviewing their Asia strategies in response to local client preferences that partners be based on the ground.

In addition to Korea, Milbank has also been ramping up its capability in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo, with several big name hires from A&O and Stephenson Harwood.

And despite relinquishing its local Hong Kong practice licence, the firm has shown it has no plans to retreat from Asia, where it has been operating since the 1970s, opening with a hub office in Singapore.

Its Korean practice has a particularly strong history; the firm having advised Korean corporations, banks and government agencies on a long list of cross-border M&A, project finance, private equity investments and disputes, spanning sectors such as power, petrochemicals, steel and mining, aviation, and financial services.