South Koreans are continuing to boycott Japanese products in response to Japan's strict export controls.<br />And new research suggests this is indeed beginning to hurt a major Japanese retailer here in Korea.<br />Our Eum Ji-young has more.<br />South Koreans have been sticking to their boycott of Japanese products since July as an avenue to express their anger over Tokyo's export curbs on Seoul.<br />As the boycott rumbles on, the brand-value of some Japanese firms have taken a nosedive.<br />Brandstock, a Seoul-based corporate brand-value rating agency, released on Monday its BrandStock Top Index 100 for the third quarter.<br />It shows the brand value of the local unit of Japanese apparel chain Uniqlo slumped a whopping 27 spots since the previous quarter... to 99th.<br />However, local airlines also suffered as the number of South Koreans tourists heading to Japan dropped sharply because of the boycott.<br />South Korea's flagship carrier Korean Air tumbled 21 ranks spots to 48th, while the nation's second largest carrier Asiana Airlines dropped eight places to 31st.<br />Hana Tour, one of South Korea's largest travel agencies, also suffered.<br />It slid nine spots to 24th.<br />On the other hand, other local brands have reaping the benefits of the boycott.<br />The brand-value of South Korean automobiles had been on a downtrend in the last quarter, but they bounced back strongly in the third quarter.<br />Notably, Hyundai's high-end model Genesis ranked 28th on the list,… up 28 spots compared to the previous three-month period... as drivers in South Korea turned their backs on the Genesis' Japanese rivals.<br />Hyundai's another premium model, the Grandeur, jumped up 27 places to 58th.<br />Brandstock said the boycott's effect will expand across an even broader slice of the South Korean economy, the longer it continues.<br />Samsung Electronics' Galaxy smartphone remained the most valuable brand in South Korea for the eighth consecutive year.<br />It was followed by the country's largest retailer E-mart, and mobile messenger app KakaoTalk.<br />Eum Ji-young, Arirang News.<br />
