Japan beer exports to South Korea dry up amid hiccup in ties

TOKYO: Not a single drop of Japanese beer was exported to South Korea last month, according to official figures on Thursday (Nov 28), as a boycott campaign against Japan over a historical dispute dries up demand.

Japanese beer shipments to South Korea stood at 7.9 billion yen (US$72 million) last year, accounting for more than 60 per cent of the country's global exports of the amber nectar.

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But the finance ministry in Tokyo said exports had plunged to zero, as the two countries remain locked in a dispute over trade and Japanese war-time atrocities.

Already in September, year-on-year exports had fallen 99 per cent, dealing a blow to Japanese brewers such as Kirin, Asahi and Sapporo.

A Kirin Holdings spokesman declined to comment, saying only: "We are watching developments."

Exports of Japanese instant noodles and sake to South Korea have also plummeted.

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Ties began a downward spiral after a series of South Korean court rulings ordering Japanese firms to compensate war-time forced labour victims.

This infuriated Tokyo, with Japan insisting the matter was settled in a 1965 treaty normalising diplomatic relations between the two countries, which included significant reparations.

The historic dispute morphedRead More – Source