▲ The boycott of Japanese products

The boycott of Japanese products is in progress in South Korea. The movements of the two nations, Japan and South Korea like not using Japanese products, are now happening which are affecting both of them.

The cause of the boycott of Japanese products is the conflicts about the Japanese colonial period. The Korean Supreme Court reached a verdict about the compensation of Korean draftees by Japanese pressure. However, the verdict could not be admitted by the current Japanese government because they denied their acts from the past. If they admit about the verdict, it will show that Japan admits their inhumane acts. Shinzo Abe, Japan's prime minister, insisted that South Korea is a treacherous country, so Japan stopped exporting parts of the semiconductor. South Korea's economy became unfavorable, so the people started to boycott Japanese products.

▲ Gwangju Gwangduk High School students` boycott

There are many examples of the boycott of Japanese Products. The representative example is the high school of Gwangju. Gwangju Gwangduk High School was established by Shin Chae-ho's offspring, so students were enlightened when they knew about their history. Last May, the school changed their school song that was composed by a composer who is related to a pro-Japanese. Also, on July 17th, they got a declaration about the determination of kicking out Japanese products. Moreover, there are many personal resistances made by people such as not using products made from Japan, canceling trips to Japan and many more.

▲ List of Japanese products

The more the boycott of Japanese products spreads, the more the effects that will experience. For instance, the Japanese clothing store, UNIQLO, got damaged because of the boycott of Japanese products. When the boycott of Japanese products began, the number of customers of UNIQLO rapidly declined. Their income declined by 17 percent, but in reality, their damages from this declination are much bigger due to many factors like factories. Also, there is another example. The beer in South Korea is affected, too. The income from Japanese beer declined by 10 percent. Their incidents show that the effects of the boycott of Japanese products are becoming bigger.

July 17th, 2019

by Kwak Chae Hyun