Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
Soju sales sink in Japan
Asahi beer / Korea Times file
By Kim Bo-eun
The weak yen and growing anti-Korean sentiment have hit sales of Korean alcohol in Japan. But Japanese beer is flying off shelves in Korea.
According to the Korea Customs Service and liquor businesses, exports of soju to Japan fell 9.1 percent, from 57,534 tons in 2013 to 52,271 last year.
Considering total exports of soju dropped 4.2 percent, from 77,615 tons to 74,388 tons, the fall in exports to Japan is significant.
This is a blow to soju companies, because they rely on Japan for more than 70 percent of total exports.
The value of exports to Japan declined 14.1 percent, from $78.96 million to $67.8 million. The total value of exports fell 7.4 percent, from $107.51 million to $99.51 million.
The liquor industry attributes this to the weak yen.
Industry sources said the yen price of soju should have been raised but companies feared sales in Japan would plunge. They said companies such as Lotte Liquor and HiteJinro had continued exporting without price hikes despite a fall in operating profit. Smaller companies had to stop exporting.
Growing anti-Korean sentiment has also been blamed for affecting sales because relations between the two countries remain cool on several diplomatic issues.
In the past, “premium Korean soju” was a key term in its marketing, but it is no longer used.
Meanwhile, imports of Japanese beer have jumped 27.4 percent, from 25,047 tons in 2013 to 31,914 tons last year. The percentage-point jump exceeds that of total beer imports.
The value of imports grew 18.9 percent, from $27.93 million to $33.21 million.
Japanese beer sales continue to grow as importers cut prices and hold promotions.