In 2018, South Korea bought US$73 million worth of Japanese beer, about two-thirds of its exports. Year-over-year sales had been trending down for months, showing a 92 per cent year-over-year drop in August and a 99.9 per cent drop in September.(CNN)

Talking point: Japan and South Korea, its third-largest trading partner, have been locked in a trade war since July, when Japan imposed export controls on material South Korean manufacturers like Samsung depend on to make semiconductors. The two countries have removed each other from their lists of preferred trading partners; in South Korea, there have been widespread calls for boycotts of Japanese products, which are having a profound impact on the likes of Tokyo-based brewer Asahi Group. Late last year, a South Korean court ruled against two of Japan’s largest companies, ordering them to pay damages to victims of forced labour during Japan’s colonial rule of the country. Japan insists its export restrictions are not connected.