Japanese Urged to Boycott North Korean Products
When I read Japanese were boycotting North Korean products I immediately thought of, boycott what counterfeit US dollars and Nork heroin? However, North Korea actually does have some legimate exports to Korea besides the illegal variety.
But although the number of consumer goods bearing North Korean labels has visibly declined of late, experts on the reclusive state are divided over whether this means fewer products are coming in or they are merely being given another country of origin, including seafood caught in North Korean waters but identified as Russian or Chinese.
During the first half of 2004, cheap North Korean-made products, including suits, could easily be found at discount outlets, while supermarkets stocked a variety of cheap seafood labeled as being from North Korea.
On the other end of the spectrum, boxes of expensive North Korean “matsutake” mushrooms were prominently displayed in the better supermarkets, selling for 10,000 yen to 20,000 yen each.
Now is the “Great North Korean Boycott” having any impact on North Korea? According to this guy it is:
Lee Young Hwa, a professor at Kansai University who is an expert on the North Korean economy, said the effort has had some effect.
“You used to see advertisements in the media and on the streets pitching stores selling North Korean-made suits for 10,000 yen. You don’t see the ads, nor the suits, as much as you used to,” he said. “More and more Japanese will no longer buy goods they know are North Korean, even if those goods are extremely cheap.”
The fashion set may breath a sigh of relief that, thanks to boycott pressure, North Korean suits are no longer easily found.
I have never seen any store selling North Korean suits when I have gone to Japan but I find it hard to believe Nork suits have Japanese clothing companies on edge. Next time I go to Japan I am going to have to buy me a North Korean suit just for the novelty of owning one. I would love to compare the quality between Itaewon tailors and North Korean slave labor.
