South Korea’s alcoholic beverage exports declined for the second consecutive month in March, largely due to the descent of the Japanese yen amid faltering overseas demand, data showed Sunday.

The country’s exports of soju, Korea’s traditional distilled liquor, reached $9.5 million last month, down 11 percent from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the beverage industry.

The corresponding figure for Korean beers shrank 23.6 percent to $4.4 million, with that of makgeolli, Korea’s traditional rice wine, plunging more than 50 percent to $1.7 million in the same period, the data showed.

In February, shipments of soju dropped 17.8 percent on-year to $8.26 million, with those of beers falling 25.7 percent to $3.91 million and makgeolli sinking 43.6 percent to $2.09 million, according to the data.

Exports of makgeolli have notably been on a downtrend for 11 straight months since May last year, industry data showed.

Such a downturn in Korea’s liquor shipments is largely attributable to the fast depreciation of the Japanese currency, experts said, as it makes Korean products relatively more expensive than Japanese ones. Japan is the largest buyer of Korean alcoholic beverages. (Yonhap News)