일본 불매운동 저비용 항공 노선 축소로 확산<br /><br />Japan's export curbs have sparked a massive boycott of Japanese products in South Korea.<br />As we have reported this week, many South Koreans have canceled their travel plans to Japan, but that's having the knock-on effect of harming South Korea's aviation industry.<br />Lee Min-sun reports. The boycott of Japanese products in South Korea has accelerated ever since the trade spat between the two countries blew up earlier this month.<br />More and more South Koreans are cancelling pre-booked trips to Japan and are encouraging others to do the same online.<br />A local branch of Korea's National Agricultural Cooperative Federation even ran a special campaign, giving away 10-kilograms of rice to those who called off their trip to Japan.<br />With the swelling number of cancellations, South Korea's low-cost carriers are either canceling or slashing the number of routes or the regularity of their flights to Japanese cities.<br />Starting September, Air Busan, a subsidiary of Asiana Airlines, will discontinue its daily route from Korea's southern city of Daegu to Tokyo's Narita Airport and cut in half its flights between Daegu and Osaka<br />Eastar Jet will also scrap routes to two Japanese cities from Busan in September. Jin Air and T'way Air have made similar decisions.<br />Many existing air routes to Japanese cities run by the low-cost carriers weren't that popular in the first place and weren't bringing in substantial profits.<br />With the boycott, airlines are adjusting their routes and are seeking to diversify their international destinations.<br />"Demand for Japanese routes has been decreasing since the turn of the year. The trade dispute just accelerated the reorganization of routes to Japan."<br />Japan's major tourist hubs are also feeling the heat.<br />Tsushima Island, located about halfway between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, used to be a popular tourist destination for South Koreans.<br />Some 600-thousand Koreans visited the island last year by ferry, but stores that were once packed with tourists now sit empty and the streets deserted.<br />The impact is already being felt less than a month into the boycott and if it continues to expand and intensify, there's no guessing the effect it will have on both countries' economies.<br />Lee Min-sun, Arirang News.<br />
