EXPANDING BOYCOTTS OF JAPANESE PRODUCTS

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Retailers in Korea have also joined the boycott of Japanese products. Now, Korean consumers have been refusing to buy Japanese brands, ever since Japan imposed export controls on Korea. Couriers belonging to the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions have declared, that they will not deliver Uniqlo products, and employees of supermarket franchises have decided not to recommend Japanese products to shoppers.

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Courier Kim Do-gyun says the number of Uniqlo product deliveries has plummeted recently. He used to deliver around five packages from the Japanese retailer every day. But after the boycott he only handles a couple of packages from that company.

[Soundbite] KIM DO-GYUN(COURIER) : "Judging by the number of Uniqlo products allocated at the local office, the volume has clearly dropped."

And now, couriers belonging to the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions decided not to deliver any Uniqlo packages. If they find Uniqlo products among the goods to be delivered, they will return them to the company after explaining the situation to the customers. The union members are determined to carry out this refusal movement even if it leads to financial losses.

[Soundbite] KIM TAE-WAN(KCTU) : "If couriers arbitrarily refuse to make deliveries, the main office can penalize them by imposing delivery fees on them. But the couriers are willing to bear the penalty."

Local couriers are working to expand the movement by sharing photographs of them vowing not to make such deliveries. Workers of supermarket franchises also joined the boycott. They decided to refuse providing information on Japanese products to shoppers. Workers of Lotte Mart, EMart, and Home Plus that belong to the KCTU will participate in this campaign.

[Soundbite] JEONG MI-HWA(SUPERMARKET EMPLOYEE) : "We decided to display Japanese products separately and not to provide information on them."

Roughly 10,000 members of the KCTU nationwide have declared that they will not deliver packages from Uniqlo and refuse providing information on Japanese products.