[News Today] WHAT ABOUT RICE LIQUOR?

[LEAD]
The global craze for Korean culture is now boosting interest in traditional Korean liquors. In response, the government is ramping up promotions and widening tax breaks to stimulate exports and increase domestic rice consumption.

[REPORT]
This brewery is run by a traditional liquor company.

After fermentation, traditional liquor is placed into cans.

Once the sterilization and packaging processes are complete, the product is ready to be shipped into the market.

This brewery alone produces around 200,000 traditional liquor cans daily on average.

In the past, it mostly targeted the domestic market. But nowadays its exports to overseas markets continue to grow by the year as demand continues to rise.

Park Seon-young / Staff at traditional liquor company
We produced about 60 million bottles annually at our Hoengseong brewery over the past 20 years. Exports accounted for about 20% of sales.

Large production volume translates to high rice consumption. Some 2,700 tons of rice is used annually on average to produce traditional liquor at this brewery alone.

The government is also trying to promote traditional alcoholic drinks to boost their exports abroad and increase rice consumption at the same time.

To this end, the government doubled the number of traditional liquors subject to tax breaks this year.

The government hopes rice consumption will increase by up to 40,000 tons through the expanded production of traditional liquors.

Last year, a festival dedicated to traditional alcoholic drinks drew the largest number of visitors to date, attesting to their rising popularity.

They are especially popular among foreigners.

Kira / Student from Netherlands
I think compared to European liquors, Korean alcohol is a bit more light and refreshing. In recent times Korean alcohol is becoming more popular.

In 2023, exports of Korean traditional alcoholic drinks recorded 24 million dollars.

The government plans to more than double the amount by 2027.