Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Sony, JTI, Knot cancel events on growing anti-Japan sentiment
Seen above is Sony's WF-1000XM3 noise-canceling earbuds, which the company planned to release in Korea through a launching event on Thursday. Sony Korea canceled the event amid the growing anti-Japan sentiment among Korean consumers after Japan's export curbs on high-tech materials to Korea. Courtesy of Sony
By Nam Hyun-woo
By Nam Hyun-woo
Sony, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and other Japanese firms operating in Korea have canceled or postponed launching events for their new products amid the growing anti-Japan sentiment among customers, according to industry officials Tuesday.
Though the companies refused to comment on the exact reason for their decision, officials said such a move is an apparent response to Korean customers' growing boycott of Japanese products after Tokyo imposed restrictions on exports to Korea of high-tech materials essential for manufacturing chips and display panels.
Sony Korea canceled a launching event of its new noise canceling earbuds, just four days before it was scheduled on Thursday at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul.
The Japanese electronics titan cited “matters within the company” as the reason for the cancellation and added the product will be released as scheduled, but did not elaborate further.
JTI Korea, which planned a press conference on the new product on Thursday, also said that it has postponed the event due to “matters within the company.”
The tobacco company's PR agency said the event needed more preparation. JTI's parent company JT Group is headquartered in Tokyo.
Japanese watch brand Knot also canceled its July 26 press conference on entering the Korean market. The brand's Korean importer reportedly said it agreed to cancel the event due to chilly Korea-Japan relations.
Industry officials said that the series of cancellations is the fallout of Japan's exports curb, which is an apparent retaliation to last year's Supreme Court rulings here against Japanese firms over wartime forced labor.
“Such launching events are oftentimes costly, so it is rare to see them canceled unless there are critical issues,” an industry official at a Japanese firm here said. “If there's an issue with our company or our products, we can handle them. But political issues like this are beyond our control. What companies can do is remain silent and hope the two countries can address their conflict as soon as possible.”
Sony and JTI Korea are on a list of boycotted Japanese companies, which is going viral on Kakao Talk messenger and other social media platforms. The list also includes Uniqlo, Kirin, Panasonic and a slew of other consumer brands.
A week after Tokyo's July 1 export restrictions, Korean consumers' boycott of Japanese products is picking up momentum, especially the boycott of Japanese beers.
According to data from E-mart, Japanese beers sales at its outlets from July 1 to July 7 declined by 14.3 percent from a week earlier. The total sales of imported beer and domestic beer grew 2.9 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.