As Dentons prepares to combine with a mid-sized South Korean firm, questions remain over the future of the global legal giant's six-year-old Seoul office.

Last week, Dentons announced it was combining with Lee International, a Seoul-based domestic firm with about 30 lawyers. Meanwhile, Dentons already operates in Seoul as a foreign law practice with the office it inherited from predecessor firm McKenna Long & Aldridge after the firms merged in 2015.

In a statement, Dentons said the combination will give it the ability to practise Korean law. Under Korean regulations, global firms can have access to the Korean market by opening a foreign legal consultant office in Seoul—which cannot offer Korean law advice—or through an alliance with a local firm. The only way a global firm can directly practise Korean law is by forming a joint venture with a local firm. Both Dentons and Lee International confirmed that the combination is not a joint venture.