With the trade fight between South Korea and Japan raging and if anything steadily intensifying,... local merchants are taking the drastic step of boycotting all Japanese goods.
More and more South Korean vacationers are also changing their previous Japan travel plans to other countries as well.
Lee Seung-jae reports.
This is the largest South Korean internet group dedicated to helping locals plan trips to Japan.
It's membership stands at one-point-three million strong.
However, with the rapidly-expanding boycott campaign against everything Japanese in South Korea,... the site is shutting up shop,... at least temporarily.
"This is the first time I've seen people in the group calling for a boycott and this is a massive group of people who love traveling to Japan."
Even the Busan National Science Museum,... which planned a group trip to Japan for scientific research,... has called off its trip.
"The atmosphere doesn't seem to be improving. As a result, we've decided to go elsewhere."
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With so many cancellations,... the number of South Korean visitors to Japan is down three-point-eight percent in the first half of this year,... compared to the same period last year.
And with more people boycotting Japanese products as well, a number of online shopping sites, which provide locally-made goods in place of Japanese products, are sprouting up on the internet.
" I don't buy Japanese products, but now I'm conscious about not buying them."
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With Japan apparently unwilling to retract its export curbs on South Korea anytime soon,... the boycott looks set to rumble on,... harming the economies of both countries.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.
