From cars to beer and clothes, South Koreans snap up Japanese goods as ties rebound
The number of Korean travellers to Japan has also surged, thanks to the cheaper yen and warming bilateral relationship
The monthly sales of Japanese cars, including Toyota Motor and Lexus, jumped 31 per cent in August from a year earlier, taking a boost from rival Hyundai Motor’s capacity crunch and consumer preferences shifting away from electric vehicles.
Sales of Japanese products in South Korea took a battering in 2019 when anti-Japanese sentiment flared after Tokyo imposed export curbs in a row over wartime forced labour. The two countries share a bitter history that includes Japan’s 1910-45 colonisation of the Korean peninsula.
A recent survey showed that 57 per cent of South Korean respondents in their 20s and 30s said they have favourable views towards Japan, compared to 10 per cent who said the same of China.
“The public hostility towards Japan has been masked by economic benefits of Japanese products and tours,” said Seonglim Lee, a Consumer Science professor at Sungkyunkwan University.
South Korean imports of Japanese beer jumped nearly 70 per cent in the first seven months of this year from a year earlier, while shipments of Japanese whisky rose nearly 50 per cent during the period, Korea Customs Service data showed.