Sumitomo Corporation Korea Ltd. (President: Yoshifumi Yamawaki, Head office: Seoul), a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation (President: Susumu Kato, Head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo), will open a branch office in Busan, South Korea on April 1, 2009. Sumitomo will be the only company to have an office in Busan among leading trading companies.

Established in 1994, Sumitomo Corporation Korea Ltd. had conducted operations from its head office in Seoul and a branch office in Busan. The Busan office, however, was closed in 1999 due to the slowdown of the Korean economy which followed the 1997 Asian currency crisis. The Korean economy has since recovered and resumed growth, with notable development in the southern region of the country, where a number of leading global companies are concentrated especially in heavy industries field. In view of the above, we plan to expand our business in steel plates for shipbuilding, and wind power and nuclear power generation-related equipment in the southern region.

The reopening of the Busan Branch Office will allow us to reinforce tailored services to southern region based corporations and we will further expand existing businesses. In addition, we will aim to develop new businesses in a wide range of areas including metals, machinery, infrastructure and logistics.

Overview of the Busan Office
Name                     　　　  : Sumitomo Corporation Korea Ltd., Busan Branch Office
Branch General Manager  : Norikazu Ikari
Number of staff                : 6
Location                     　　: Allianz Life Insurance Building, 5th Floor, 862-1, Beomcheon
                                       1-dong, Busanjin-gu, Busan, 614-724, Republic of Korea
Contact                           :+82-51-638-9777