This file photo taken June 7, 2022, shows bottles of soju displayed at a convenience store in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreigners picked soju, South Korea’s traditional distilled liquor, as the most well-known Korean alcoholic beverage, survey showed Tuesday.
The Korean Food Promotion Institution conducted a survey of 8,500 respondents from 15 countries and found that 41.2 percent mentioned soju as a Korean alcoholic beverage they knew about.
Following soju were beer at 32.2 percent and fruit wine at 24.6 percent. On the other hand, 34.7 percent said they didn’t know about any Korean alcoholic beverages.
By continent, 68.1 percent of the respondents from Southeast Asia knew about soju, a relatively higher percentage than other continents. In Europe, 17.2 percent of the respondents said they knew about soju.
Among 4,786 respondents who knew about Korean alcoholic beverages, soju (46.5 percent) ranked first when they were asked about the ones they had experienced.
Regarding the reasons why they drink Korean alcoholic beverages, 41.5 percent cited taste, followed by aroma at 15.3 percent.
Other reasons included encountering them in Korean TV dramas or movies at 14.8 percent, and the lower alcohol content at 12.1 percent.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
