Asahi beers / Korea Times file

Asahi to air first advertisement after Boycott Japan campaign in 2019

By Kim Jae-heun

Japanese brewers are staging a comeback in the Korean market after a three-year hiatus, as they advertise new products ahead of the peak summer season, company officials said, Thursday.

Asahi Breweries said it will air its online commercial for Asahi Super Dry beer on YouTube and several other social media platforms from June 17 to the end of August. The company hopes to win back its former Korean customers, who have been boycotting Japanese products since Japan removed Korea from a preferential trade list in 2019.

At the time, Korea's top court had ordered Japanese firms to compensate Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor. Subsequently, the Japanese government retaliated by restricting Korean firms from importing some key industrial materials. This led to Korean consumers deciding to boycott all Japan-made goods in return.

Japanese breweries such as Asahi, Sapporo and Kirin were the main victims of the Boycott Japan campaign and as such, stopped advertising their products in 2019. Even HiteJinro, the country's largest liquor firm and an importer of Kirin beers, had to avoid promoting Japanese beer products in Korea.

However, local consumers' anger towards Japanese firms has waned and imports of Japanese alcohol beverages here have increased significantly recently.

According to the Korea Customs Service, Japanese beer imports amounted to $2.66 million (3.43 billion won) in the first quarter of this year, up 22.6 percent from a year ago.

This increase encouraged Japanese firms to make their presence in the local market felt by advertising their products again.

"This year marks the 35th anniversary of beer brand Asahi Super Dry's birth. We have launched promotional campaigns to communicate with consumers around the world," a Lotte Asahi official said. Lotte Asahi is a local importer of Asahi beers.

Meanwhile, Asahi was once the best-selling imported beer in Korea. However, after the Boycott Japan campaign prevailed in Korea, Lotte Asahi's sales plunged from 124.8 billion won in 2018 to 17.3 billion won last year, down by 86.2 percent in three years.