By John Redmond

With only days to go before the lifting of restrictions at all beaches in Busan, surfers are eagerly awaiting the annual Busan Surfing Festival this weekend, Sept 3-5 at Haeundae beach, subject to wave conditions.

Although the sport of surfing in Korea is fairly recent, this year's festival promises to be the best yet with corporate sponsorship and fun events. Mi-Rae Trading has contracted with Ocean and Earth, Spider High Performance Surfboards and Surfer Girl to bring new and innovative products to Korea which will be co-sponsoring the comp with Minossurf and a host of others.

"This promises to be the biggest event yet," said Megan Kim by phone to The Korea Times.

"We have a lot of interest from overseas sponsors and have just confirmed Australian industry giants, Billabong, as a main sponsor for the event."

With summer crowds surging to coastal resorts, many beaches have restrictions when surfboards are allowed into the water.

With an agreement with the Korean Surfing Association (KSA) and the United Surfers of Haeundae, authorities agreed to restrictions meaning that Haeundae is open to surfers before the beach opens daily from 5:30 a.m. till 8:30 a.m. Surfers still need to register on high surf warning days.

The KSA and other surfing organizations plan to petition for change next year.

More Korean surfers are entering the waters and competing at a higher caliber in the open division following the shooting of South Korea's first surfing DVD to be released later this summer. Foreign surfers are expected to compete representing South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, America, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and other countries.

Kim who learned to surf in Australia said the sport has grown here in the last few years.

"The crowds in the water have grown big time and this is attracting overseas companies to Korea."

Of the surf, Busan is generally limited to three beach breaks that tend to work better in stormy conditions, Jeju-do is also home to a few breaks with a club at Jungmun, but the best waves are at a spot near the 38th parallel at Yang Yang on the east coast.

Here waves can get pretty hairy.

With the opening in Busan of Minnosurf on April 24, Korea's largest surf shop owned by surfer Min Song, there is a new chapter in the Korean retail surfing market. His shop is the largest in Korea and stocks everything from boards to board shorts and accessories. Minossurf carries surf gear for all seasons and is likely to become the most popular locale in Busan for surfers. Min has stocked his store with all the latest in surfing gear and his shop is a surfers' dream.

Minnosurf's location is 1090-5 Jung-dong, Haeundae-gu, Busan. Call Min Song or Won Tae on 82-51-731-5186, Fax 82-51-731-5187 or email www.minossurf.com

To get more info about the contest or to enter check the Korean Surfing Association site at www.ksasurf.org or email Cheryl Kim at cherylkim2009@hotmail.com and visit the contest sponsors at Minnosurf and Songjeong Surf Club.