Sales of Chinese goods in Korea not yet affected despite missile row

The Chinese government has shut down many Lotte outlets in China, citing violations of fire safety regulations while banning imports of Korean pop culture content and the sale of tour packages to South Korea.

E-Mart, South Korea's largest discount chain, said Wednesday that sales of Chinese beer Tsingtao surged 16.8 percent during the first week of this month compared to the same period last year.

A convenience store chain also said sales of Tsingtao beer shot up 27 percent during the first six days of this month from a year earlier.

Sales of Chinese consumer electronics declined in recent weeks at Lotte HiMart, but the decrease should be attributed to a seasonal factor rather than the diplomatic row, a Lotte Himart official said.

Lotte HiMart said sales of Chinese TV sets dropped 20 percent for the first week of this month from a year earlier.

Sales of Chinese refrigerators at Lotte HiMart fell 60 percent, washing machines 4 percent and batteries 70 percent during the same time span.

"Sales of Chinese products dropped drastically, but sales of Korean products also fell similarly," he said. "We have yet to see any impact from THAAD. Personal computers sell a lot in February and March and televisions and fridges sell in large quantities as the furnishings for weddings in March and April."

Some SNS postings, however, are openly calling for a boycott of Chinese products.

"I am reluctant to buy Chinese batteries as I've heard South Korean companies are suffering from difficulties in China," an online post said. "However, it will be the worst situation we should avoid that South Korea and China boycott each other's products and stage a war of nerves." (Yonhap)