Japan's beer shipments to South Korea plummeted 99.9 percent in September from a year earlier to ¥588,000, as consumers in the neighboring country boycott Japanese products amid deteriorating bilateral ties, government data showed Wednesday.
The campaign to boycott Japanese goods, including vehicles, has spread widely among South Korean consumers after tighter Japanese export controls were implemented in July on key materials used by South Korean chipmakers.
In the reporting month, exports of hydrogen fluoride, a chemical subject to newly tightened export controls, were also sharply down 99.4 percent to ¥3.72 million, according to the data compiled by the Finance Ministry.
The sharp drop in beer shipments in September followed a 92.2 percent plunge in August to ¥50 million.
Export volume and value of the chemical material used to clean semiconductors stood at zero in August, according to ministry data. The material is one of three chemicals that Japan made subject to export restrictions from July 4, requiring exporters to obtain a license prior to each shipment to South Korea.
Disputes between Tokyo and Seoul over wartime forced labor and trade policy have pushed bilateral ties to their lowest point in years, with the boycott campaign also resulting in a sharp decrease in the number of South Korean visitors to Japan.