Have you heard about Zebra, Uni(Mitsubishi Pencil), Pilot, Pocky, Nuovo, PLUS Corporation and Seven-Eleven? You might have used something from these companies. Actually, these are Japanese companies. Nowadays, Korea citizens do not use or by-products from Japanese companies because South Korea and Japan were embroiled in a bitter trade war.

First of all, the starting point of the Japanese boycott was political conflicts. South Korea had requested compensation and apologized for Korean forced draftees during the Japanese colonial era. Actually, South Korea and Japan had many conflicts because of this problem for a long time. So, Japan complained that they already claimed a negotiation. However, the Korean government said that it was a national negotiation, and it cannot be applied to any individual. Finally, Japan removed South Korea from the whitelist. Because of the Japanese decision, Korean citizens got mad and furious at Japan. They tried to find what they can do for South Korea. So, they started to boycott Japan. They did not buy Japanese products. They did not buy from Pocky, Nuovo, PLUS corporation, UNIQLO, and other companies from Japan.

▲ UNIQLO`s CFO is presenting that Japanese boycott cannot last for long at the Fast Retailing Settlement Presentation. (source: naver blog)

At that time, Japan also had a backlash to South Korea. An executive of Japanese popular clothes brand, UNIQLO, said that Japanese boycott cannot last for long. Also, Japan had an export regulation to South Korea. They decided not to sell hydrogen fluoride and some other goods. Hydrogen fluoride is an important thing in the South Korean semiconductor market, so South Korea suffered greatly because of it. As the world's action, Russia wants to sell hydrogen fluoride with great quality to South Korea, and China wants to deliver hydrogen fluoride to the Samsung group, which is a great influential company in the Korean semiconductor market.

On the other hand, boycotting Japan is a great way to

▲ Asian boss interview with citzens. (source: Youtube Asian Boss)

protest against Japan, and it is fair to do that because it gave a good effect on Korean companies. However, it is boycotting Japan in ad constructions. At a citizen's interview with an Asian boss, he said that anti-Japanese sentiment, if taken too far, will only end up hurting each other. With good and bad constructions it is sure that boycotting Japan will continue until Japan apologizes to South Korea.