South Korea & Japan: Import of Japanese beer to Korea nearly halves in July

Imports of Japanese beer to Korea nearly halved in July against the previous month as consumers voluntarily shunned Japanese brands in protest to the Tokyo export curbs targeting to hurt Korea’s mainstay electronics component industry, the Pulse News reported on August 6.

Beer imports from Japan in July totaled $4.34 million, off 45 percent from the previous month, according to the Korea Customs Service. Imports of Japanese beers came at $5.16 million in April, $5.95 million, and $7.90 million in June – on seasonal demand. But the beer imports from the neighbor country plummeted 45 percent from the previous month and 35 percent from a year earlier in July after Tokyo tightened control on three chemicals used in chip and display production bound for Korea.

The last time beer imports from Japan fell so sharply was in the aftermath of the 2011 nuclear meltdown in earthquake-hit Japan.

Japanese brands are being yanked out of the shelves as both consumers and merchants join the boycott against Japanese products following coercive trade embargo from Tokyo in apparent complaint over wartime and colonial period claims.

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