S. Korean boycott of Japanese goods spreads amid escalating trade tensions

The trade spat between South Korea and Japan over Tokyo's export curbs on Seoul has whipped up a storm of consumer hostility against Japanese goods in South Korea.It's severely denting sales of Japanese products in the country, including luxury vehicles and alcohol.Kim Hyo-sun has more on the boycott campaign.Amid escalating trade tensions between Seoul and Tokyo,... South Korean consumers are boycotting a whole spectrum of Japanese products, everything from beer to cars.According to industry sources,... sales of Japanese beer at South Korean convenience store chain CU plunged 40 percent in July.The market share of Japan's Asahi beer dropped nearly three percent,... losing its title of the "best-selling imported beer" in the country.The boycott against Japanese beer first began among smaller businesses,... with mid-sized convenience stores in Seoul displaying stickers that said they do not stock Japanese alcohol.Over 23-thousand retail outlets were participating in the campaign,... as of mid-July.Backed by the scorching heat and the boycott campaign picking up steam,... sales of South Korean beer are rapidly increasing."South Korean beer sales have jumped, as consumers are reluctant to buy Japanese beer. Eventually it even dragged down the market share of Japanese beer in major retail stores."Japanese cars are also taking a hit.In the first half of this year,... over six million U.S. dollars-worth of Japanese vehicles were imported to South Korea,... a whopping 25 percent increase from the same period last year.However, the figure decreased significantly this month,... following Tokyo's trade restrictions on Seoul."Japanese automobiles were popular among South Koreans, but the situation will be very different in the latter half of this year due to the increasing anti-Japanese sentiment across the country."While Tokyo is scheduled to decide on August 2nd whether to remove Seoul from its "whitelist" of countries that enjoy preferential treatment in trade,... it's left to be seen whether the boycott will eventually lose steam or intensify to levels as yet unseen.Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News.