Soju (English pronunciation: ; ) is a clear and colorless distilled

alcoholic beverage Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...

from

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, traditionally made from rice, but later from other grains and has a flavor similar to

vodka Vodka ( ; is a clear distilled beverage, distilled alcoholic beverage. Its varieties originated in Poland and Russia. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is ...

. It is usually consumed neat. Its alcohol content varies from about 12.5% to 53%

alcohol by volume Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of Alcohol (drug), alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest ...

(ABV). Since 2007 low alcohol soju (below 20%) has become the most common type. Traditionally, most brands of are produced in the

Andong Andong () is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in South Korea, and the capital of North Gyeongsang Province. It is the largest city in the northern part of the province with a population of 167,821 as of October 2010. The Nakdong Ri ...

region, but also in other regions and countries. While was traditionally made from rice, South Korean

ethanol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...

producers replace rice with other

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diet ...

, such as

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

due to significantly lower capital costs. Soju often appears similar to several other

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

n liquors while differing in alcohol contents.

Etymology

''Soju'' () means "burned

liquor Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through ethanol fermentation, alcoholic ferm ...

", with the first syllable, ''so'' (; 燒; "burn"), referring to the heat of

distillation Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

and the second syllable, ''ju'' (; 酒), meaning "alcoholic drink". Etymological dictionaries record that China's shaozhou (shāojiǔ, 烧酒), Japan's shochu (shōchū, 焼酎), and Korea's soju (soju, 燒酒) have the same etymology. In 2008, "soju" was included in the

Merriam-Webster Dictionary ''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the US English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by Noah Webster (1758–1843), a US lexicographer, as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's n ...

. Merriam-Webster dated the word's appearance in the American English lexicon at 1951. In 2016, the word was included in the

Oxford Dictionary of English The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' (''ODE'') is a single-volume English dictionary published by Oxford University Press, first published in 1998 as ''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' (''NODE''). The word "New" was dropped from the titl ...

. Another name for soju is ''noju'' (; "

dew Dew is water in the form of droplets that appears on thin, exposed objects in the morning or evening due to condensation. As the exposed surface cools by thermal radiation, radiating its heat, atmospheric moisture condenses at a rate grea ...

liquor"), with its first syllable, ''no/ro'' (/; 露; "dew"), likening the droplets of the collected alcohol during the

distilling Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

process to dewdrops. Some soju brand names include ''iseul'' (), the native-Korean word for "dew", or ''no/ro'' (), the Sino-Korean word for "dew". Soju is sometimes mistakenly referred to as ''

cheongju Cheongju (; ) is the capital and largest list of cities in South Korea, city of North Chungcheong Province in South Korea. The 'Cheong' in the name of Chungcheong Province is the Cheong of Cheongju. History Cheongju has been an important prov ...

'' (), a Korean

rice wine Rice wine is an alcoholic beverage fermentation, fermented from rice, traditionally consumed in East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia, where rice is a quintessential staple crop. Rice wine is made by the fermentation of rice starch, during wh ...

. Mass-produced soju is also mistaken for Chinese '' baijiu'', a grain liquor, and '' shōchū'', a Japanese liquor.

History and production

The origin of soju dates back to 13th-century

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...

. The Yuan

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

acquired the technique of distilling '' arak'' from the Persians during their invasions of the Levant,

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, and in turn introduced it to the Korean Peninsula during the

Mongol invasions of Korea A series of campaigns were conducted between 1231 and 1270 by the Mongol Empire against the Korean kingdom of Goryeo. The last campaign concluded with a peace treaty with Goryeo becoming Korea under Yuan rule, a vassal state of the Yuan dynast ...

(1231–1259). Distilleries were set up around the city of Gaegyeong, the then-capital (current

Kaesong Kaesong (, ; ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region cl ...

). In the areas surrounding

, soju is still called ''arak-ju'' (). ''

'' soju, the direct root of modern South Korean soju varieties, started as the home-brewed liquor developed in the city of

, where the Yuan Mongols' logistics base was located during this era. Soju is traditionally made by distilling alcohol from fermented rice. The rice wine for distilled soju is usually fermented for about 15 days, and the

process involves boiling the filtered, mature rice wine in a '' sot'' ( cauldron) topped with ''soju gori'' (a two-story distilling appliance with a pipe). In the 1920s, over 3,200 soju breweries existed throughout the Korean Peninsula. Soju was traditionally a beverage distilled from rice with 35% ABV until 1965, when diluted soju with 30% ABV made from other fermented substances appeared with South Korean government's prohibition of the traditional distillation of soju from rice, in order to alleviate rice shortages. Soju was then made from

distilled to 95% ABV from sweet potatoes and

tapioca Tapioca (; ) is a starch extracted from the tubers of the cassava plant (''Manihot esculenta,'' also known as manioc), a species native to the North Region, Brazil, North and Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast regions of Brazil, but which has ...

, which was mixed with flavorings, sweeteners, and water. The end products are marketed under a variety of soju brand names. A single supplier (Korea Ethanol Supplies Company) sells ethanol to all soju producers in South Korea. Until the late 1980s, saccharin was the most popular sweetener used by the industry, but it has since been replaced by stevioside. The use of other grains and starches led different sojus to have different aroma and flavor. During the 1970s, the national government started to monopolize the soju industries. By the 1970s there were about 300 domestic soju companies. In 1973, the Korean government began to consolidate various local soju producers. Each province was designated one soju producer per regional market. Each producer was to create a brand of soju that represented its region. By the end of the consolidation, a producer existed for each of the provinces. The government then passed two policies. The first was a mandatory local soju purchase policy. The policy required each provincial alcohol

wholesaler Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

to purchase more than 50 percent of their soju from within their own

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

. The second was the input allocation policy. This policy gave the government the responsibility to administer ethanol spirit, the main ingredient in soju. Each soju company was designated an amount based on their national

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a Market (economics), market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those ...

in the previous year. These policies were created with the intention of protecting local firms and discouraging excessive competition. This decision by the government advanced the efficient control of tax revenue. As a result of this consolidation, a few companies began to dominate the market.Son, Jungmin & Kim, Jikyung (Jeanne) & Choi, Jeonghye & Kim, Mingyung, 2017. "Linking online niche sales to offline brand conditions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 74-84. https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v70y2017icp74-84.html one firm, HiteJinro, accounts for almost half of the market while 4 smaller companies accounts for another 40 percent. Due to the protection by the government's policies, local firms took the majority of market share in their regional markets. In the 1980s and 1990s, there was a

trade liberalization Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist political parties generall ...

trend which led the Korean government to begin deregulating the soju industry. The government lifted its restrictions on new licenses for alcohol distribution in January 1991. It also lifted restrictions on soju production in March 1993. Various restrictions on the production of soju were also removed or weakened. The government also abolished the mandatory local soju purchase policy in January 1992. Between 1993 and 1995, HiteJinro's market share in regional markets outside its own increased and local companies saw a steady decline. As a result of this loss in market share, local soju companies lobbied to reintroduce the protection policies that had been removed. In response, the

National Assembly of South Korea The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea () is the unicameral national legislature of South Korea. Elections to the National Assembly are held every four years. The latest legislative elections were held on 10 April 2024. The current Na ...

reintroduced the mandatory local soju purchase policy in October 1995. However, the case was challenged and the case was eventually decided by the

Supreme Court of Korea The Supreme Court of Korea () is the highest ordinary court in the judicial branch of South Korea, seated in Seocho, Seoul. Established under Chapter 5 of the Constitution of South Korea, the court has ultimate and comprehensive jurisdictio ...

that the policy was unconstitutional and abolished it in December 1996. Soju alcohol content has trended downward from the 1970s onward. The ABV of 30% fell to 25% by 1973, and 23% by 1998. Currently, soju with less than 17% ABV are widely available. In 2017, a typical bottle of diluted soju retails at

₩ The won sign , is a currency symbol. It represents the South Korean won, the North Korean won and, unofficially, the old Korean Empire won, Korean won. Appearance Its appearance is "W" (the first letter of "Won") with a horizontal strike ...

1,700 (approximately $) in supermarkets and convenience stores, and for

4,000–5,000 (approximately $–) in restaurants. Several regions have resumed distilling soju from grains since 1999. Traditional hand-crafted '' Andong soju'' has about 45% ABV. Hwayo () is a brand with five different mixes constituting an ABV range from 17% to 53%. In 2019, ''Jinro soju'' was the largest selling branded spirit in the world. Fruit ''sojus'' have been produced since 2015.

Etiquette

The most important rule in Korean drinking etiquette is that the youngest person in the group pours the drinks for their elders. It applies not only to age but also to the hierarchy within a company. When pouring alcohol, both hands should be used to pour. When receiving alcohol, both hands should also be used to hold the glass. It is considered rude to pour yourself a drink.

Bottles and recycling

Soju is a popular Korean alcoholic beverage, with over 917 million liters being sold in Korea. In 1994 Doosan Beverage started using green 360ml bottles to associate Soju with being clean and fresh; being a great success, other brands started using the same bottles. In 2009 seven soju companies made a voluntary agreement to start manufacturing soju in the same sized green bottle with the same design, these bottles can then be sold back to and reused by soju manufacturers. While the program was voluntary, it was beneficial to the companies producing soju by saving 88 won per bottle. While this simple idea allowed multiple companies to recycle the same bottle, increasing their savings while benefiting the environment, consumer participation needed to be improved. In 2015 South Korea revised an act that promoted recycling and it was found that the return of soju bottles increased significantly. The system was further improved in 2016, and the deposit was increased in 2017; in 2018 the recovery rate of soju bottles was 97.2% compared to 87.9% in 2015. The return of recyclable materials is driven by South Korea's Beverage Container Deposit System. This system imposes a deposit on recyclable containers that is included in the sale price and refunded upon return. South Korea is recognized as a leading country when it comes to recycling, with Yale's Center for Environmental Law and Policy ranking South Korea as number one with an environmental performance index score of 67.1/100. South Korea attributes their success to volume-based fees for waste management. With this system households purchase government-issued trash bags while recyclables are separated and collected for free. Local governments set the price of these bags based on volume and are adjusted to reflect the cost of the waste management process. Some companies started producing different colored bottles in 2019. According to the Korea Times, Soju manufacturing companies Hite and Muhak introduced non-standard bottles. This created a dispute between companies with claims that sorting out non standard bottles was costly. This has resulted in a new agreement where companies can trade non-standard bottles for the standard green ones with each other.

Soju outside Korea

China

There are a number of soju brands directly outside the

Korean Peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

for the ethnic Korean population, and most use rice as the foundation since the price is significantly cheaper than in South Korea. Soju from South Korea, from firms like Jinro, is also imported.

Canada

Liquors in Canada are subject to regulations that vary from province to province. In Ontario, the provincially run Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) sells soju, but not all

LCBO The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO, ) is a Crown agency (Ontario), Crown agency that retails and distributes alcoholic beverages throughout the Provinces of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It is accountable to the Legislative Asse ...

locations carry it. However, since the LCBO introduced online ordering in 2016, soju can be ordered for home delivery anywhere in the province.

United States

The liquor licensing laws in the states of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and New York specifically exempt the sale of soju of up to 25% alcohol from regulation relating to the sale of other distilled spirits, allowing businesses with a beer/wine license to sell it without requiring the more expensive license required for other distilled spirits. The soju must contain less than 25% alcohol, and be clearly labeled. This has led to the appearance in the United States of many soju-based equivalents of traditional Western mixed drinks normally based on vodka or similar spirits, such as the soju martini and the soju

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

. Another consequence is that the manufacturers of similar distilled spirits from other parts of Asia, such as Japanese shōchū, have begun to re-label their products as soju for sale in those regions. Jinro's American division partnered with Korean pop star

PSY Park Jae-sang (; born December 31, 1977), better known by his stage name Psy ( ; ), is a South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter, known domestically for his humorous music videos and stage performances and internationally for his hit singl ...

to promote soju in the U.S., and in 2013 partnered with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

to sell soju at its games.

Brands

Jinro is the largest manufacturer of soju, accounting for half of all white spirits sold in South Korea. Soju accounts for 97% of the category. Global sales in 2013 were 750 million bottles. The most popular variety of soju is currently Chamisul (참이슬 - literally meaning "real dew"), a quadruple-filtered soju produced by Jinro, but recently ''Cheoeum-Cheoreom'' (처음처럼, lit. "like the first time") of Lotte Chilsung () and Good Day () of Muhak () are increasing their

. However, the popularity of brands varies by region. In

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

, Shiwon Soju (시원 소주-"refreshing soju") is the local and most popular brand. Yipseju (잎새주 - "Leaf Soju"/"Maple Soju") is popular in the

South Jeolla Province South Jeolla Province (), formerly South Chŏlla Province, also known as Jeonnam (), is a province in the Honam, Honam region, South Korea, and the Provinces of Korea, southernmost province in mainland Korea. South Jeolla borders the provinces of ...

region. The

Daegu Daegu (; ), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest List of provincial-level ci ...

Metropolitan Area has its own soju manufacturer, Kumbokju, with the popular brand Cham (). Further north in the same province, Andong Soju is one of Korea's few remaining traditionally distilled brands of soju. On the Special Self-Governing Province of

Jeju Province Jeju Province (; ), officially Jeju Special Self-Governing Province (Jeju language, Jeju: ; ), is the southernmost Provinces of South Korea, province of South Korea, consisting of eight inhabited and 55 uninhabited islands, including Marado, Udo ...

, Hallasan Soju is the most common brand, being named after the island's main mountain Mt. Halla. Also, there is pureun-bam (푸른 밤/meaning: blue night) made by Jeju-soju. In

South Gyeongsang Province South Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World Heritage Site Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple tha ...

and

Ulsan Ulsan (; ), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighbo ...

, the most popular is Good Day (), produced by Muhak in

Changwon Changwon (; ) is the capital and largest city of South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea (with a population of 1,025,702 ), and the 11th largest city of the South Korea, country. A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south, and the ...

. However, as soon as one crosses the border from

north to

Gyeongju Gyeongju (, ), historically known as Seorabeol (, ), is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, covering with a population of ...

North Gyeongsang Province North Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a province in eastern South Korea, and with an area of , it is the largest province in the Korean peninsula. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remaine ...

, it is almost impossible to buy White Soju, and the most popular brands are Chamisul and Cham. Since 2015, the new trends of soju include fruit soju and sparkling soju, which have become increasingly popular in Korea, especially for young people. Sae-ro, a sugar-free soju, is also popular among young people. TokkiSojuGoldLabel

New American producers are entering the market. Some, like Tokki Soju and West 32 Soju, with initial market penetration in major markets like New York, are finding critical success. Tokki Soju won double gold for their barrel-aged soju, Tokki Soju Gold, in the San Francisco Spirits Competition 2021 and 2022. West 32 Soju won a gold medal at the 2017 New York International Spirits Competition. A new all natural soju distilled in Germany called ISAE is also entering the premium soju market. It is distilled according to the German Purity Law ( the Reinheitsgebot) for grain spirits of 1789 and uses 100% regional winter wheat and organic rice. Recently, soju has been produced for the younger generation. It mainly contains fruit flavor and produces and sells soju with low frequency.

Consumption

Although

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

, and

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

have been gaining popularity in recent years, soju remains one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in Korea because of its ready availability and relatively low price. More than 3 billion bottles were consumed in South Korea in 2004. In 2006, it was estimated that the average adult Korean (older than 20) had consumed 90 bottles of soju during that year. In 2014, it was reported that South Koreans of drinking age consumed an average of 13.7 shots of spirit per week, the highest per capita consumption of alcoholic spirits of any country. However, due to the lower concentration of alcohol in soju compared to other hard spirits and the lack of an international standard for the volume of a shot, this does not necessarily imply a larger consumption of alcohol from hard spirits.

Cocktails

While soju is traditionally consumed straight, a few cocktails and mixed drinks use soju as a base spirit. Beer and soju can be mixed to create '' somaek'' (), a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of the words soju and maekju (맥주 beer). Flavored soju is also available. It is also popular to blend fruits with soju and to drink it in "slushy" form. Another very popular flavored soju is yogurt soju (), which is a combination of soju, yogurt, and lemon lime soda. A '' poktan-ju'' () ("bomb drink") consists of a

shot glass A shot glass is a glass originally designed to hold or measure spirits or liquor, which is either imbibed straight from the glass ("a shot") or poured into a cocktail ("a drink"). An alcoholic beverage served in a shot glass and typically consu ...

of soju dropped into a pint of beer (similar to a boilermaker); it is drunk quickly. This is similar to the Japanese

sake bomb The sake bomb or sake bomber is a beer cocktail made by dropping a shot glass of sake into a glass of beer. Preparation Two chopsticks are placed parallel on top of the glass of beer, and the shot glass is placed on top of them. The drinker ...

Citations

General and cited references