CEO Introduction

Long History

Founded in 1858, ITOCHU Corporation boasts a history of 160 years. We opened our Seoul branch in February 1967 shortly after the normal diplomatic relations were established between Korea and Japan. For over 50 years, we have been contributing to “the Miracle of Hangang River” by promoting trades and businesses in various fields.

ITOCHU Corporation’s mission is “Sampo-yoshi” (Japanese for “good for all three sides”: good for the seller, good for the buyer, and good for society), which is based on the philosophy of our founder, Chubei Itoh. We seek not only to achieve profit but also help address social issues by winning the trust and meeting the expectations of our customers, shareholders, employees, and various other stakeholders. On top of such philosophy, ITOCHU is driven by the management principle which believes “profit lies closest to consumers”. We make an effort to continuously improve our value by upgrading the marketing skills of all our employees and by identifying and developing businesses close to consumers while leveraging our upstream (manufacturing stage) and midstream (processing stage) assets and know-hows.

*The concept of “Sampo-yoshi” traces to the merchants of Ohmi. They were permitted to do business in the regions they visited because they focused not only on what’s good for the seller and the buyer, but also on contributing to the economy of these regions, or what’s good for society, forming the roots of today’s sustainability. The phrase is said to originate from the personal motto of our founder, Chubei Itoh: “Trade is a compassionate business. It is noble when it accords with the spirit of Buddha by profiting those who sell and those who buy and supplying the needs of society.”

Surrounding Environment

Although the COVID-19 pandemic may have come to an end, economic environment continues to stay instable and uncertain due to tensions between Western states, especially the US, and China/Russia. Amidst such headwind, ITOCHU Corporation achieved a consolidated net profit of 800 billion and continues to aim high.

Meanwhile, Korea-Japan relations is becoming better and exchange between the two nations is picking up with approximately 10 million travelling back and forth. Consequently, ITOCHU has recently added tourism to its business line as more opportunities open up for general trading corporations.

We will pursue our business by acknowledging such change and adjusting to the new environment.

About ITOCHU Korea

ITOCHU Korea’s business scope covers chemicals, energy, textile, food, machinery and general products. We act as a bridge between Korea and Japan, supplying products manufactured by large/medium/small-sized Korean or Japanese businesses to our customers in each respective country. This is an important mission to ITOCHU Corporation because our objective is to play a part in creating a prosperous life in both countries.

We will focus on areas where Korea is globally competitive in, such as semiconductors, automobiles, secondary cells and digital industries. Furthermore, we will promote new businesses in Korea with prospective partners. These activities will allow ITOCHU Corporation to contribute more and develop hand in hand with Korea, ultimately boosting the pride of our employees.