By Kim Rahn
As many as 6 million merchants and mom-and-pop store owners will join a nationwide campaign to boycott Japanese products to protest Japan’s claim over Korea’s Dokdo Islets.
Officials of the Save Local Stores Alliance, a group of mom-and-pop store owners, said Monday that their members will not deal with made-in-Japan products starting March 1, or Independence Movement Day which commemorates an uprising in 1919 against Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945).
While there have been similar boycott campaigns organized by civic groups, it is expected to be the largest ever because other related groups, such as restaurant owners’ associations, will join.
The number of participants may reach 6 million including owners of member stores, eateries and pubs nationwide and their employees, according to the alliance.
An official of the alliance said their decision came after Japan’s Shimane Prefecture government celebrated “Takeshima Day” on Feb. 22. Takeshima is the Japanese name for Dokdo, and Japan continues to press its territorial claim over Korea’s easternmost islets.
“We’ll make utmost effort to protect Dokdo. Starting March 1, we’ll neither buy nor sell products from Japanese firms until the country reflects on its wartime atrocities and stops its claims over Dokdo,” Eom Tae-ki, a director of the alliance, said.
The group plans to continue the action for an indefinite period. “We’ll reconsider the move when the Japanese government says it will not stir up the Dokdo issue or it changes its stance on denying sexual slavery,” Eom said.
Targeted products include Mild Seven cigarettes, Asahi beer, Nikon cameras, electronic products from Sony, clothes from Uniqlo, and vehicles from Toyota, Lexus and Honda.
“We can’t prevent members from selling Japanese products they’ve already purchased and stored. But we’ll encourage them not to buy anymore in future,” Eom said.
The alliance on Monday began distributing stickers to its members to put on the walls of their stores. “I think many of our members will join the action, as they keep calling us to ask when they can get the stickers,” he said.
The boycott may bring huge ripple effects considering other collective actions the groups have conducted previously: Last year, they refused to accept Samsung and Shinhan credit cards in protest against high commissions, eventually making card companies cut fees for mom-and-pop stores. They also played a key role in compelling the government to adopt the mandatory shutdown of large-sized discount chain stores on specific days of the month.
As to the boycott, concern is rising over a possible trade dispute between the two nations, or a Japanese local store owners’ boycott of Korean products.
“It is not a government-driven movement, so we don’t think there will be government-level actions in both countries. It is our voluntary, private-level action to show that Koreans can’t stand by Japan’s false claims,” Eom said.