November 22, 2024

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South Korean imports of Japanese beer fell 97 percent in August from a year earlier due to a boycott of Japanese products amid a bilateral trade spat, data showed Sept. 16.

The value of imports of Japanese beer came to $223,000 in August, compared with $7.56 million in the same period of last year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. 

The sharp decline came as many Korean consumers joined a boycott of Japanese goods in anger at Tokyo’s trade curbs against Seoul.

In July, Tokyo imposed tighter regulations on exports to Seoul of three materials -- resist, etching gas and fluorinated polyimide -- that are critical for the production of semiconductors and flexible displays.

Japan later removed  Korea from its whitelist of trusted trading partners in retaliation against last year’s Supreme Court rulings ordering Japanese firms to compensate Korean victims of forced labor during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Japan claims that all compensation was settled when the two countries normalized their diplomatic ties in 1965.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)