Koreans love to drink alcohol. Korea therefore has a unique drinking culture. In this article, I would like to tell you about this drinking culture in Korea.<\/p>\n\n
You could say Korea is the Ireland of Asia.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n There is also a lot of vocabulary about alcohol and drinking that foreigners don’t learn in language school. In this article you will learn everything that has to do with drinking.<\/p>\n\n We usually drink soju (\uc18c\uc8fc), maekju (\ub9e5\uc8fc) or somaek (\uc18c\ub9e5) and sometimes makgeolli (\ub9c9\uac78\ub9ac). Let me explain these four most popular Korean drinks to you.<\/p>\n\n Soju is a typical Korean liquor and the most popular alcohol, so soju is also called the national drink. <\/p>\n\n Soju has about 16-20% alcohol. Before the 1990s, soju had more than 25% alcohol, but it is getting weaker. I like soju better than beer, but since I live in Salzburg I don’t drink soju at all because I don’t want to drink alone. When you drink soju alone, it looks like you’re sad or having problems. <\/p>\n\n We also like to drink beer. Beer is called Maekju in Korean.<\/p>\n\n I think Korean beer is lighter than European beer. There are fewer different types of beer in Korea than in Europe. Somaek is soju<\/strong>and maekju<\/strong>. To make somaek, you just mix soju and maekju, so you can just mix it yourself at the restaurant and at home. There is no menu for somaek in the restaurant or bar. Soju and maekju in a 2:8 or 3:7 ratio are the most delicious.<\/p>\n\n I think the taste of somaek is better than soju or maekju, but the next day you have a bad hangover because it’s a poktanju (\ud3ed\ud0c4\uc8fc). <\/p>\n\n Poktanju (\ud3ed\ud0c4\uc8fc) literally means Poktan bomb, Ju alcohol, meaning bomb alcohol. A mixture of different alcohols is called Poktanju. <\/p>\n\n You can watch a video of Somaek Domino<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n Why is it called Poktanju?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n I’m not sure why, but here’s my guess.<\/p>\n\n When we make poktanju, we put a small glass of soju in the beer glass. It looks like a bomb dropped and when you drink Poktanju, your head hurts like you were hit by a bomb.<\/p>\n\n Makgeolli is a traditional alcohol and is made from rice, so it is called rice wine. <\/p>\n\n I can still remember my mother making makgeolli herself at home. After she made it, she ate the rest of the rice from the makgeolli. Therefore, makgeolli is white like milk and we drink it from a bowl, not a glass. <\/p>\n\n There’s also Dongdongju (\ub3d9\ub3d9\uc8fc), which is a similar alcohol to makgeolli and has a few grains of rice.<\/p>\n\n Koreans usually drink soju while eating. When we drink alcohol while eating, we call it banju (\ubc18\uc8fc \u98ef\u9152). Whether it’s soju, maekju or makgeolli. <\/p>\n\n There are certain dishes that go well with soju, maekju or makgeolli. You’ve heard of Korean chimaek (\uce58\ub9e5) before. Chimaek (\uce58\ub9e5) is Chicken(\uce58\ud0a8<\/strong>) and Maekju(\ub9e5\uc8fc<\/strong>). Korean fried chicken is special. <\/p>\n\n Regular fried chicken is very crispy and there is also spicy chicken with chili sauce or with garlic or with soy sauce. There are many bars that only prepare fried chicken (\uce58\ud0a8\uc9d1) and also deliver it home with maekju on tap (\uc0dd\ub9e5\uc8fc).<\/p>\n\n Click on Chimaek’s link.<\/a><\/p>\n\n Korean pancake called pajeon (\ud30c\uc804) goes well with makgeolli. Click on the link from Makgeolli & Pajeon.<\/a><\/p>\n\n At dinner we drink banju and we continue to the bar after dinner. If you can’t or don’t want to drink, you can still go to the bar with others who want to drink. You can also just eat in the bar without drinking. <\/p>\n\n The food for alcohol in the bar is called Anju (\uc548\uc8fc). Anju is usually simpler and smaller than real food, but it can also be a real dish. At the bar we have to order Anju. It’s like you order drinks at a restaurant when you eat out. However, we don’t have to order drinks with our meal at the restaurant. <\/p>\n\n Nowadays, there are many European-style bars (\ubc14) in Korea. You may not have to order anju there. However, you’ll have to order anju at a Korean bar (\uc220\uc9d1).<\/p>\n\n I think if you eat enough when you drink, you don’t get drunk quickly. It’s good for the stomach, right?<\/p>\n\n Cheers is Geonbae (\uac74\ubc30), but currently young people say Zzan (\uc9e0) instead of Geonbae (\uac74\ubc30). Zzan (\uc9e0) is actually the sound when the glasses are bumped.<\/p>\n\n Koreans call alcohol drinking etiquette judo (\uc8fc\ub3c4 \u9152\u9053) in Korean. Ju is alcohol and Do is etiquette. So how to be polite when drinking with someone else. So judo in Korea is not the Japanese martial art of the same name, judo (\uc720\ub3c4 \u67d4\u9053). <\/p>\n\n Korean Judo is also very important because it is related to politeness.<\/p>\n\n General Judo in Korea<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Judo when you drink with respecters<\/strong><\/p>\n\n As I mentioned at the beginning, Koreans like to drink and drink often. However, you don’t always drink because you want to drink. Often the drinking culture in Korea is determined by social constraints.<\/p>\n\n Koreans usually drink alcohol at dinner. This is the first Il Cha (1\ucc28). Even though I don’t want to, sometimes I absolutely have to drink because I belong or want to belong to that social group.<\/p>\n\n Thank God! I like to drink!<\/p>\n\n In Korea, students have their own unique culture. I’ll tell you about it in another article later. They usually spend a night together in a boarding house and they drink a lot. <\/p>\n\n If the older students pour alcohol for the new students, the younger students absolutely must drink. It has changed a lot now, but there were sometimes students who died of alcohol poisoning in the process.<\/p>\n\n After every semester they have a party to celebrate the end of the semester, that’s when they drink a lot. So there are lots of parties and outings, lots of opportunities to drink. While drinking, they also play games. If you lose, you have to drink alcohol as punishment. The penalty, of course, is one-shot!<\/p>\n\n Watch the video<\/a> to understand what I mean.<\/p>\n\n It’s also a community culture at the university. We drink, talk and discuss with other students together. Then we have a community and it is important that we belong to the community.<\/p>\n\n I also drank a lot and often as a student. The community was important to me too, but I just liked alcohol and could drink a lot back then. Haha! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n In Korea you can see that there are many restaurants, cafes and bars around the universities.<\/p>\n\n In the past there were many problems because students did not study, but only drank and partied. For the past 20 years, the university credit system has changed and due to economic difficulties, students are currently learning a lot. Otherwise they won’t find a good job.<\/p>\n\n After work, we sometimes have hoishik (\ud68c\uc2dd \u6703\u98df). Hoishik is the name given to eating together with colleagues after work, but not only eating, but also drinking. <\/p>\n\n Hoishik is more about drinking than eating, though. As I said, at university the younger students should drink if the older ones ask them to. It’s even more so at work, of course! It’s mostly forced. <\/p>\n\n For the old generation, work or the company is more important than their family. <\/p>\n\n In the past, if you didn’t go to the hoishik, you could get into trouble because it seemed like you didn’t want to belong to the community. It was bad for the career.<\/p>\n\n The younger generation, however, is against it. They think Hoishik is an extension of work. <\/p>\n\n Hoishik is also about 1, 2, 3 Cha and even though you have a bad hangover the next day, you have to go back to work on time and work well as if nothing happened. I received credit for it. Heeey!<\/p>\n\n However, larger companies have limited Hoishik to 1 Cha these days. The reason is to prevent sexual harassment of female employees.<\/p>\n\n Hoishik culture was a problem, so a lot of things changed. <\/p>\n\n After drinking, you have a hangover the next day. Koreans eat haejangguk (\ud574\uc7a5\uad6d) for breakfast to fight a hangover. Click on the link from Kongnamulguk.<\/a><\/p>\n\n Bugeo (\ubd81\uc5b4) is dried fish, Pacific pollock, so Bugeoguk (\ubd81\uc5b4\uad6d) is a soup with dried fish pollock.<\/p>\n\nWhat kind of alcohol do Koreans drink?<\/h2>\n\n
When Koreans drink alcohol, they eat anju (\uc548\uc8fc).<\/h2>\n\n
What’s Cheers in Korean?<\/h2>\n\n
Drinking culture in Korea<\/h2>\n\n
The Korean drinking etiquette you need to know<\/h3>\n\n
Alcohol and social constraints in Korea<\/h2>\n\n
At the university<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
Alcohol after work<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
What do Koreans eat for hangovers?<\/h2>\n\n