Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Sales of Japanese cars in Korea tumble amid boycott
Honda cars on display at the automaker's headquarters in Tokyo, July 31. AP
By Jung Min-ho
A woman walks past an advertisement featuring Japanese and Korean flags at a shop in Shin Okubo area in Tokyo, Aug. 2. Japan has removed Korea from a "whitelist" of countries with preferential trade status. AP
By Jung Min-ho
Sales of Japanese cars in Korea suffered a sudden drop in July as a boycott of Japanese products started to bite, data showed Monday.
According to data from the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA), the number of newly registered Japanese vehicles stood at 2,674 in July, a 17.2 percent drop from the same period last year. Compared with June, the number plunged 32.2 percent.
Feeling the pinch of the escalating boycott, triggered early last month by Japan's export restrictions, Toyota's vehicle sales plunged 31.9 percent to 865 from 1,270 a year ago. Sales of Honda and Nissan tumbled 33.5 percent to 468 from 704 and 35 percent to 228 from 351, respectively.
Sales of Lexus, Korea's third most popular imported car brand after Mercedes and BMW, were down 25 percent to 982 from the previous month, although that was still up 33 percent from the previous year.
Japanese automakers worry that the boycott will continue this month, with political tensions between the countries show no sign of abating.
On Friday, the Japanese government removed Korea from its list of trusted trading partners, adding fuel to the boycott campaign against anything Japanese.
This came after Japan decided to restrict the export to Korea of some critical tech materials, including fluorinated polyimides ― which are used in organic light-emitting diode screens for TVs and smartphones.
The decision is widely viewed as retaliation for Korean Supreme Court rulings last year that ordered Japanese companies to pay damages to Korean victims of forced labor during World War II.