Amid escalating tension between South Korea and China over Seoul’s decision to deploy a US advanced defensive missile system, a short video taken by a longtime Beijing resident shows an empty Lotte Mart store in Beijing on Tuesday.



“Tonight, at local grocery spot Lotte, a South Korean supermarket chain targeted in a state-directed boycott. Shades of anti-Japan sentiment several years ago,“ the foreign resident, who wished to remain anonymous, wrote on his Facebook page.













He said “(There are) usually long checkout lines but tonight helmeted, baton-wielding security guards outnumber shoppers“ and ”a dozen armband-clad volunteer neighborhood watch aunties at entrance.”



On Monday, a short video emerged showing an unidentified woman vandalizing a Lotte supermarket in Shenyang, according to Shanghaiist.com, a local news blog. The woman in the video smashed up boxes and packages of products displayed on the shelves and gave out the middle finger in front of Lotte’s logo.





