Korea gives up on export to Japan after request to remove illustration of Takeshima…Domestic orders flood in = Korea

A Korean rice cracker manufacturer included an illustration of Takeshima (known as Liancourt Rocks in Korea, or Dokdo) on its product packaging, but received a request from the Japanese side to "remove the image of Takeshima."
It was revealed that the company refused and gave up on exporting. Since then, orders have skyrocketed in Korea. Olbalm, a baby rice snack manufacturer, will start to display the following on the back of its product packaging from 2021.
The package included an illustrated map of the islands with the phrase "Dokdo is Korean land" on the cover. This resulted in the package being blocked from being exported to Japan.
They had been discussing exporting to Japan since May, but according to a May report by the Jeonnam Daily Newspaper, Olbalm was in financial difficulty and the company was struggling with loan repayments and the economic downturn.
At the time, it was reported that a Japanese company offered a large contract equivalent to 15% of the company's annual sales. The Japanese company demanded that the deal be completed if Takeshima was removed.
However, President Olbalm did not accept this. An employee who had worked there for five years at the time said on the 14th on JTBC's "Case Leader," "At a crossroads in the survival of the company, I considered the position of the company and the employees.
"I couldn't understand why they made such a decision without thinking about it," he said. However, the company president, Mr. A, said it was "a matter of pride."
He said in the broadcast, "I put it in and I was so proud that I couldn't delete it."
"I couldn't throw away my national pride for the sake of immediate profits," he explained. "Thanks to my father's influence, I was able to think about the meaning of Liancourt Rocks from an early age.
"Since it is a snack that children eat, I wanted them to naturally learn about it from an early age, so I included an illustration of Dokdo," she said. After this content became known, it caused a stir online, including among mothers' communities.
The name "Dokdo Rice Cake" started to spread virally, leading to a sudden increase in orders. Olbalm said on its website on the 16th, "After the broadcast, please call our product "Dokdo Rice Cake."
"We are deeply grateful for your support," and "Due to the unexpected influx of orders, all team members are working hard. However, due to the overlap of public holidays and courier holidays this week, there will be some delays in deliveries.
However, the product is currently being exported to Hong Kong, Taiwan and other countries with the illustration of Takeshima still on it.