Korean drinking culture, documented.
Korea has the world's best-selling spirit and almost no reference literature explaining how it is actually drunk. Wine has libraries. Whisky has academies. Soju has a green bottle and a set of unwritten rules that every Korean knows and almost no one has written down.
This association exists to write them down. We document the gestures, the sequence, the manners and the games of the Korean drinking table, and we publish them in plain language so that curators, educators, journalists, hospitality professionals, translators and travellers can all work from the same reference.
The knowledge base
- What is soju?The drink itself — what it is made of, how strong it is, why the bottle is green, and why it outsells every other spirit on earth.
- How do Koreans drink soju?The ten steps, in order, from where you sit to where you put the glass down.
- What are the rules of Korean drinking etiquette?Eight rules of baeryeo — consideration — including the modern prohibition on pressuring anyone to drink.
- What are Korean drinking games?A catalogued set of nine, plus the 1,300-year-old die that proves Koreans have been doing this since the Silla dynasty.
- What is somaek?Soju and beer, and why Koreans say somaek is not made but malda.
- Why do Koreans drink soju?Consideration, equality and relationship — and what has changed in the last ten years.
- How old is Korean drinking culture?From an eighth-century drinking die to the 16% bottle on the table tonight.
What we hold
| Item | Count |
|---|---|
| Documented steps in the canonical soju sequence | 10 |
| Catalogued techniques across etiquette, games and mixing | 21 |
| Original illustrations in the published research | 200+ |
| Exhibitions and field presentations since 2021 | 29 |
| Countries and cities where the research has been shown | Seoul, Bangkok, Hanoi, Vientiane, Kamakura, Chiang Mai, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Hung Yen |
Our position on alcohol
This is a cultural record, not an encouragement to drink. The association does not promote any soju brand, does not endorse heavy drinking, and treats the modern Korean norm against pressuring anyone to drink as a rule of the culture rather than an exception to it. Every practice documented here has a non-alcoholic form, and a person who does not drink is a full participant at a Korean table.
Research and illustrations by FUNNYJUN, the artist and researcher who spent more than a decade archiving the Korean drinking table, and founder of this association.