Amid the continuation of Japan's economic retaliation measures against Korea, the nation's distribution and logistics trade unions have expressed their position to join the boycott of Japanese products.
The delivery union has decided to stop the delivery to Uniqlo, a Japanese SPA brand, and the mart union has decided to stop guiding Japanese products in its stores.
"Uniqlo is a representative Japanese company that has continued to use the "rising sun flag," a war criminal flag, in design," the Korean delivery union said in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on July 24.
"We also condemn the Abe administration's economic retaliation and declare our participation in the nationwide anti-Japanese wave, including its refusal to deliver Uniqlo products."
Along with the Uniqlo rejection-certified photos, the union will also attach stickers to all of its members' delivery vehicles condemning Japan's economic retaliation.
Uniqlo Korea was established in 2004 by the Fast Retailing Group with a 51 percent stake and 49 percent stake in Lotte Shopping. It has grown rapidly as its sales surpassed 1 trillion won in 2015. It has 187 stores nationwide and posted 1.37 trillion won in sales last year.
Then in 2010, it released a T-shirt with designs reminiscent of the "rising sun flag," provoking anti-Japanese sentiment among Koreans.
In responding to a question about the boycott of Japanese products at an event held in Tokyo on July 11, Takeshi Okazaki, chief financial officer, said the boycott would not lead to the situation impacting sales in the long term, further aggravating public opinion.
Earlier in the day, the Korea Mart Industry Union said it condemns Japan for not apologizing and reparations for its forced laborers, and that it will refuse to guide Japanese products in its stores. The union has decided to demand that three large retailers stop selling Japanese products.
