Asahi Japanese beer is making a comeback in South Korea

Asahi Beer, one of the most well-known Japanese beer brands, is set to return to the South Korean market. It was reported that the Japanese brewer's comeback in the region is happening after a 3-year hiatus.

As per The Korea Times, the maker of Asahi beers is now releasing advertisements for their new products as the peak of the summer approaches. The planned comeback was shared by the company officials on Thursday, June 16.

Asahi Breweries revealed that it would be airing its new promotional ad for Asahi Super Dry beer online via YouTube and other popular media platforms. These will be up on the sites from June 17 to the last week of August.

With its return, Asahi Breweries is hoping that it will be able to win back its Korean customers who have been enjoying the beer before it was pulled out from the market in 2019. The Asahi beers were removed from the Korean market after the citizens started boycotting Japanese products after Japan crossed out Korea from a preferential trade list three years ago.

At the time, the country's top court ordered several Japanese companies to compensate the Korean victims of the Japanese wartime forced labor. In response, the Japanese government returned fire by restricting Korean companies from importing some key industrial materials. The retaliation from the Japanese pushed Korean consumers to boycott all goods made in Japan.

The conflict affected many Japanese firms, but those that suffered the most were Japanese breweries such as Asahi, Kirin, and Sapporo. Kirin is being imported by Korea's largest liquor company, HiteJinro, and it also had to stop promoting Japanese beers in the country in 2019.

After three years, it was observed that the Koreans' anger towards Japanese companies had subsided, and the import of Japanese alcoholic beverages is coming in again. In fact, there has been a significant increase in imports lately. With this turn of events, the locals will see the Asahi beers again in the grocery and convenience stores soon.

"This year marks the 35th anniversary of beer brand Asahi Super Dry's birth," an official of Lotte Asahi said. "We have launched promotional campaigns to communicate with consumers around the world."