🥃 Soju

Soju (소주) is the Korean spirit many people know from green bottles, and Korea's Liquor Tax Act classifies it as a distilled liquor. The name covers two different products: a distillate of fermented starchy raw material, nuruk starter (국) and water, distilled in something other than a continuous still, and rectified spirit diluted with water.

The appendix to Article 5 of the Act (in the version in force since 1 January 2025) sets one shared limit for every kind of soju: fewer than 2 degrees of non-volatile matter. The distilled type may not be made from germinated grain (except as set out by decree), by sealed solid-state fermentation of grain, or with filtration through birch charcoal. The diluted type is spirit distilled to 85% ABV or more, or grain spirit thinned with water. Both types may be blended and aged in wooden barrels, and the drink is still soju.

The terms «희석식» (diluted) and «증류식» (distilled) do not appear in the Act; they are industry and statistics terms. The National Tax Service converts volumes of diluted soju to 25° and distilled soju to 35°. By its figures, Korean plants shipped 820 million liters of soju in 2024, about a quarter of all domestic alcoholic drinks (3,151 million liters); in 2015 the figure was 956 million liters.

Tax on distilled drinks, soju included, is 72% of value; for small-volume traditional drinks a decree may cut the rate to half. The best-known traditional kind is Andong soju from North Gyeongsang Province: in 1987 it was entered in the province's intangible cultural heritage, and in 2000 Jo Ok-hwa was recognized as its master-holder.

Why this matters to you. The word soju alone does not tell you what is in the bottle: a distilled grain mash or diluted spirit. Look on the label for 증류식소주 (distilled), the name of the traditional producer and the ingredients. The law sets no strength range, so check the % ABV figure. WHO reminds us: there is no safe dose of alcohol.