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The mounting anti-Japanese sentiment by South Korean consumers against Japan triggered by the country’s retaliatory export curbs has dealt another blow to sea travel to Japan, in addition to a series of suspensions on flights to Japan by the nation’s airlines.

According to sources from the transportation industry on Thursday, the country’s ferry operator Hanil Express Co. suspended its service from Busan to Tsushima Island from July 8 to September 30 on the back of the plummeting demand and reservation cancellation amid the consumer boycott against Japanese brands.

Tsushima High Speed Ferry Co. also announced last week that it has halted its ferry operation between Busan and Tsushima from July 26 to August 31 due to the low reservation and vessel maintenance work.

Tsushima Island, about 60 kilometers off the coast of Korean port city Busan, has been one of the popular tourist destinations among Koreans loving fishing and seeking for tax-free shopping. But amid the escalating tensions between Seoul and Tokyo over the Japanese government’s export restrictions of high-tech materials to Korea, Korean consumers have been voluntarily participating in the boycott movement against travel to the country.

Since July 4, Japan has tightened its shipments to Korea of three key materials used in manufacturing chips and displays citing security reasons. But the Korean government believes Japan took the measure to retaliate against the Korean court’s recent rulings that ordered Japanese firms to compensate wartime forced laborers. Japan warned it would remove South Korea from the so-called ‘white list’ nations enjoying preferential fast-track procedures on shipments of tech materials.

According to Busan Port Authority, the number of passengers to and from Japan at Busan International Passenger Terminal plunged 28.9 percent from July 1 to 21 to 47,093 from the same period last year.

The strong anti-Japanese sentiment has also led Korea’s airlines, both full-service carriers and budget ones, to streamline their flight services to Japan. The consumer boycott has been building up against all Japan-branded products ranging from beers and cosmetics to automobiles.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]