Boycott of Japanese goods widening in S. Korea amid trade spat

전국적으로 퍼지는 일본 불매운동..한동안 지속될 전망More and more consumers here in South Korea are boycotting Japanese-made products... in protest of Tokyo's latest export curbs and their protests are showing no signs of abating.Our Seo Eunkyung tells us more.The ongoing boycott movement in Korea against Japanese products,... has impacted a whole swath of different industries.Japanese beer sales have tumbled in convenience stores nationwide.According to CU, the largest convenience store chain in Korea, sales of Japanese beer such as Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo plunged more than 40 percent on-year,... over the first 18 days of July.Sales fell 10 percent during the first week of the month,... but it widened to 40 percent by the third week,... indicating that more and more Korean consumers are joining the boycott.During this period, total beer sales rose 1-point-2 percent while consumption of imported beer,... excluding Japanese brands,... climbed 1-point-9 percent.The boycott has impacted the tourism industry.The number of South Korean visitors to Japan fell 3-point-8 percent on-year in the first half of the year,... the first decline in five years.The Japanese daily Sankei Simbun said Japan could struggle to reach its goal of 40 million foreign visitors next year,... and that's despite the 2020 Tokyo Olympics being held.Against this backdrop, the number of Koreans who are participating in the boycott is on a steady rise.According to a local pollster, 48 percent of the respondents said they would boycott Japanese-made products... in a survey conducted on July 10th.The same poll conducted a week later... showed the figure had increased to 54-point-6 percent.A website called "NoNoJapan" was launched earlier this month by an ordinary Korean citizen,... which informs users about Japanese brands and Japanese-made products.And it also makes recommendations for Korean-made substitutes of the listed products.With no end in sight to the ongoing trade spat between South Korea and Japan,... the boycott may persist for the time being.Seo Eunkyung, Arirang News.