South Koreans are continuing to boycott Japanese products in response to Japan's strict export controls.
And new research suggests this is indeed beginning to hurt a major Japanese retailer here in Korea.
Our Eum Ji-young has more.
South Koreans have been sticking to their boycott of Japanese products since July as an avenue to express their anger over Tokyo's export curbs on Seoul.
As the boycott rumbles on, the brand-value of some Japanese firms have taken a nosedive.
Brandstock, a Seoul-based corporate brand-value rating agency, released on Monday its BrandStock Top Index 100 for the third quarter.
It shows the brand value of the local unit of Japanese apparel chain Uniqlo slumped a whopping 27 spots since the previous quarter... to 99th.
However, local airlines also suffered as the number of South Koreans tourists heading to Japan dropped sharply because of the boycott.
South Korea's flagship carrier Korean Air tumbled 21 ranks spots to 48th, while the nation's second largest carrier Asiana Airlines dropped eight places to 31st.
Hana Tour, one of South Korea's largest travel agencies, also suffered.
It slid nine spots to 24th.
On the other hand, other local brands have reaping the benefits of the boycott.
The brand-value of South Korean automobiles had been on a downtrend in the last quarter, but they bounced back strongly in the third quarter.
Notably, Hyundai's high-end model Genesis ranked 28th on the list,… up 28 spots compared to the previous three-month period... as drivers in South Korea turned their backs on the Genesis' Japanese rivals.
Hyundai's another premium model, the Grandeur, jumped up 27 places to 58th.
Brandstock said the boycott's effect will expand across an even broader slice of the South Korean economy, the longer it continues.
Samsung Electronics' Galaxy smartphone remained the most valuable brand in South Korea for the eighth consecutive year.
It was followed by the country's largest retailer E-mart, and mobile messenger app KakaoTalk.
Eum Ji-young, Arirang News.
