South Korea & Japan: Korea’s beer imports from Japan soar in 2023

Korea's beer imports from Japan soared last year to regain its leading position in the country's import beer market after five years, according to the customs office on January 17.

The resurgence of Japanese beer products appears to have benefited from the release of a viral video showing a worker urinating into a tank at Tsingtao Brewery.

Last year, beer imports from Japan topped other import brands with $55.5 million, jumping from $14.5 million in 2022, $6.9 million in 2021 and $5.7 million in 2020, data from the Korea Customs Service (KCS) showed.

Japanese beer imports ranked first with $78.3 million in 2018, but they nosedived to $39.7 million in 2019 due to Japan's restrictions on exports to Korea of key industrial materials for the production of semiconductors and displays.

In 2019, Japan also removed Korea from its list of countries given preferential treatment in trade procedures.

Korea viewed the moves as retaliation against 2018 Supreme Court rulings here ordering Japanese firms to compensate Korean victims of forced labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Little doubt, the rebound in beer purchases from Japan is attributable to improved relations between Seoul and Tokyo from last year after President Yoon Suk Yeol offered to resolve the forced labor issue by compensating victims on Korea's own without asking for contributions from Japan.

Japan also reinstated Korea on its "white list" of trusted trading partners last year, about four years after the removal, in a move to improve the bilateral economic relationship.

In contrast, beer imports from China ranked third last year with $30.1 million, down from the previous year's top ranking with $36.4 million.

The video released on Oct. 19 shows a uniformed man climbing over a high wall and urinating into a Tsingtao beer tank.

Tsingtao said the batch of malt had been sealed off from use, and BK, which imports Tsingtao beer for distribution in Korea, said the plant in the video produces beer for local consumption in the Chinese market.

But the pee incident reignited concerns among consumers over the safety of Chinese food and beverage products.

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