Soju

• 1. Introduction

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  Soju is a clear Korean spirit, and in 2019 one of its brands, Jinro, was the largest-selling branded spirit anywhere in the world. Most people outside Korea have never heard of it. Yet its story runs through foreign armies, government decrees, a Supreme Court ruling and a bottle that rival companies agreed to share. This documentary asks where the drink came from and why its name sounds like weather. It asks how a spirit once made from rice ended up made from other starches. It asks why the state once decided which company could sell it in each province. And it asks what a young person at a Korean table is expected to do the moment a bottle appears.

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• 2. Burned Liquor

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  The word soju is written with two characters that together mean burned liquor. The first, so, points to the heat of distillation. The second, ju, simply means an alcoholic drink. China's shaozhou and Japan's shochu share the same etymology. Merriam-Webster added soju to its dictionary in 2008 and dated the word's arrival in American English to 1951. The Oxford Dictionary of English followed in 2016.

  Soju has a second name, noju, which means dew liquor. Droplets of spirit gathering during distillation reminded people of dew. The Korean word for dew, iseul, still appears in several brand names. Soju is sometimes confused with cheongju, a Korean rice wine. Mass-produced soju is also mistaken for Chinese baijiu and Japanese shochu.

  The drink itself arrived in the 13th century, in Goryeo. The Yuan Mongols had learned to distill arak from the Persians while invading the Levant, Anatolia and Persia. They then brought the technique to the Korean Peninsula during their invasions of Korea, from 1231 to 1259. Distilleries were set up around Gaegyeong, the capital of the day, which is now Kaesong. In the countryside around Kaesong, soju is still called arak-ju.

  Andong tells a second part of the story. The Yuan Mongols kept their logistics base in that city, and local households began brewing their own liquor. Andong soju became the direct root of the modern South Korean varieties.

  Traditional soju starts as a fermented rice wine, left for about 15 days. The filtered wine is then boiled in a cauldron called a sot. On top sits the soju gori, a two-story distilling appliance fitted with a pipe. By the 1920s, more than 3,200 soju breweries operated across the peninsula. That crowd of small makers would not survive a shortage of rice.

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• 3. The Rice Ban

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  Until 1965, soju was a rice spirit at 35 percent alcohol by volume. That year, the South Korean government prohibited the traditional distillation of soju from rice, hoping to ease rice shortages. In its place came a diluted soju at 30 percent, made from other fermented substances.

  The new recipe starts with ethanol distilled to 95 percent from sweet potatoes and tapioca. Producers mix it with flavorings, sweeteners and water, then sell the result under many brand names. A single firm, the Korea Ethanol Supplies Company, sells that ethanol to every soju producer in South Korea. Cassava stayed attractive later because it cost far less in capital than rice.

  Sweeteners changed too. Until the late 1980s, saccharin was the favorite in the industry. Stevioside has since replaced it. Because producers draw on different grains and starches, each soju carries its own aroma and flavor.

  Strength kept falling. The 30 percent bottle dropped to 25 percent by 1973 and to 23 percent by 1998. Bottles below 17 percent are now widely available. Since 2007, soju under 20 percent has been the most common type, though the full range once stretched from about 12.5 to 53 percent.

  Since 1999, several regions have gone back to distilling soju from grain. Traditional hand-crafted Andong soju sits near 45 percent. The Hwayo brand offers five mixes spanning 17 to 53 percent. Fruit sojus have appeared since 2015. Meanwhile, the state's grip on the industry reached well past the choice of ingredients.

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• 4. One Province, One Maker

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  By the 1970s, South Korea had about 300 domestic soju companies, and the national government had begun to monopolize the industry. In 1973 it started consolidating local producers. Each province was assigned one producer for its regional market. Each producer was to create a brand representing its region.

  Two policies backed the arrangement. The first was a mandatory local purchase rule, requiring each provincial alcohol wholesaler to buy more than 50 percent of its soju from inside its own province. The second was input allocation. The government took charge of the ethanol spirit that is soju's main ingredient. It gave each company a share based on its national market share in the previous year. The stated aim was to protect local firms and discourage excessive competition. The arrangement also made tax revenue easier to control.

  The consolidation left a few companies in command. As of October 2023, HiteJinro accounts for almost half of the market. Four smaller companies hold another 40 percent.

  Trade liberalization in the 1980s and 1990s pushed the government to loosen its hold. It lifted restrictions on new alcohol distribution licenses in January 1991. It abolished the mandatory purchase rule in January 1992. Restrictions on soju production were lifted in March 1993.

  From 1993 to 1995, HiteJinro's share grew in regional markets outside its home ground, and local companies steadily lost ground. They lobbied for protection to return. In October 1995, the National Assembly reinstated the mandatory purchase rule. The rule was challenged, and in December 1996 the Supreme Court of Korea declared it unconstitutional and abolished it. The regional makers survived, and their brands still shape what people pour from one province to the next.

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• 5. Green Bottles

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  In 1994, Doosan Beverage began selling soju in green 360 ml bottles, hoping the color would suggest something clean and fresh. The gamble worked so well that other brands adopted the same bottle.

  In 2009, seven soju companies made a voluntary agreement to fill one standard green bottle of the same size and design. Any company could take back and reuse these bottles. The scheme saved each company 88 won per bottle. Consumers, however, were slow to bring bottles back.

  Things changed after South Korea revised a recycling act in 2015, and returns rose significantly. The system improved again in 2016, and the deposit went up in 2017. By 2018 the recovery rate for soju bottles reached 97.2 percent, up from 87.9 percent in 2015.

  The engine behind this is the Beverage Container Deposit System. A deposit is built into the sale price and refunded when the container comes back. Yale's Center for Environmental Law and Policy ranked South Korea first in the world for recycling, with an environmental performance index score of 67.1 out of 100. Households buy government-issued trash bags, priced by volume, while sorted recyclables are collected free.

  In 2019, some companies began producing different colored bottles. According to the Korea Times, Hite and Muhak introduced non-standard designs. Rivals complained that sorting them was costly. The dispute ended in a new agreement. A company holding a stray colored bottle can now swap it with a rival for a standard green one.

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• 6. Regional Brands

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  Jinro accounts for half of all white spirits sold in South Korea, and soju makes up 97 percent of that category. Global sales reached 750 million bottles in 2013. Its best-known variety is Chamisul, which literally means real dew and is filtered four times. Challengers are gaining ground. Lotte Chilsung makes Cheoeum-Cheoreom, meaning like the first time. Muhak makes Good Day.

  Popularity still depends on where one is standing. In Busan, the local favorite is Shiwon Soju, whose name means refreshing soju. In the South Jeolla Province region, people reach for Yipseju, which translates as Leaf Soju or Maple Soju. The Daegu area has its own maker, Kumbokju, with the popular brand Cham. Andong Soju remains one of Korea's few traditionally distilled brands.

  On Jeju, Hallasan Soju is the most common choice, named after Mt. Halla, the island's main mountain. Jeju-soju also makes pureun-bam, which means blue night. In South Gyeongsang Province and Ulsan, Good Day rules, produced by Muhak in Changwon.

  Since 2015, fruit soju and sparkling soju have grown popular, especially with young Koreans. Sae-ro, a sugar-free soju, is another favorite of younger drinkers.

  Borders can be sharp. Travel north from Ulsan to Gyeongju, in North Gyeongsang Province, and white soju becomes almost impossible to buy. There, Chamisul and Cham are the brands people drink.

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• 7. At the Table

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  The first rule of Korean drinking etiquette is that the youngest person in the group pours for their elders. The same applies to workplace rank, not only age. Both hands are used to pour and also to hold a glass being filled. Pouring one's own drink is considered rude.

  The habit is widespread. Over 917 million liters of soju are sold in Korea. More than 3 billion bottles were consumed there in 2004. In 2006, an estimate suggested the average adult over 20 drank 90 bottles in that year. A 2014 report found drinking-age South Koreans averaged 13.7 shots of spirit per week, the highest per capita figure of any country. The comparison is shaky, though. Soju is weaker than most hard spirits, and no international standard defines a shot.

  Price helps explain the appeal, along with easy availability. In 2017, a 375 ml bottle of diluted soju cost 1,700 won in supermarkets and convenience stores. In restaurants it cost 4,000 to 5,000 won. Beer, whiskey and wine have been gaining popularity, yet soju endures.

  Traditionally it is drunk straight, but mixed versions exist. Somaek, a blend of soju and maekju, the Korean word for beer, is one. People also blend soju with fruit into a slushy form. Yogurt soju combines soju, yogurt and lemon-lime soda. A poktan-ju, or bomb drink, drops a shot glass of soju into a pint of beer, and it is drunk quickly. It resembles the Japanese sake bomb.

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• 8. Soju Abroad

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  Soju is a specialty in North Korea too, but its reach extends to far more distant shelves. In China, several brands serve the ethnic Korean population. Most use rice as a base, since it is much cheaper there than in South Korea. Soju from South Korean firms such as Jinro is also imported.

  Canada regulates liquor province by province. In Ontario, the provincially run Liquor Control Board of Ontario sells soju, though not every store stocks it. Since online ordering began in 2016, anyone in the province can have it delivered.

  In the United States, California and New York laws exempt soju of less than 25 percent alcohol from the rules covering other distilled spirits. The bottle must be clearly labeled. Businesses holding only a beer and wine license can therefore sell it, without the costlier spirits license. Bartenders responded with soju versions of vodka drinks, including the soju martini and the soju cosmopolitan. Makers of similar Asian spirits, such as Japanese shochu, began relabeling their products as soju in those markets.

  Jinro's American division teamed up with the pop star PSY to promote the drink. In 2013 it partnered with the Los Angeles Dodgers to sell soju at their games.

  New American producers have followed. Tokki Soju won double gold at the San Francisco Spirits Competition in 2021 and 2022 for its barrel-aged Tokki Soju Gold. West 32 Soju won gold at the 2017 New York International Spirits Competition. Minhwa Spirits, a Korean-American craft distillery in Doraville, Georgia, also makes makgeolli. Its Yong Soju, at 40 percent, took double gold at the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition and best in class in 2025. It was named Soju of the Year at the 2024 USA Spirits Ratings.

  In Germany, a new soju called ISAE follows the 1789 Reinheitsgebot, the German Purity Law for grain spirits. It uses 100 percent regional winter wheat and organic rice.

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