The Most Popular Soju by Region in South Korea

Did you know that there is a representative soju (Korean distilled alcoholic beverage) for each province in South Korea? In 1973, to prevent excessive competition between different companies in the soju market, the government allowed only one soju brand to be sold in each province. In 1996, this was decreed unconstitutional and now companies are allowed to sell their soju anywhere, but there are still particular popular brands in each region. Below, we’ve listed each region in Seoul and the most popular soju consumed in the region, as well as the distiller of each soju. Bucket list item #10: Go on soju tour in South Korea to do a taste test while I am young and my liver can handle it. Trivia: Korea makes you enter your birthdate in order to browse the website of soju brands.

The provinces of South Korea:

koreamap

Seoul 

Chamisul (참이슬)

From: Hite Jinro

Model: IU (former)

chamisul

*Seoul is not a province but a special city surrounded by the Gyeonggi-do region. As the largest city in Korea, it gets its own soju icon. As for the controversy surrounding IU as Chamisul’s model, read more about it here: New Law Prohibits IU’s Soju Advertisement Campaign

Gangwon-do

Cheoeum cheoreom (처음처럼)

From: Lotte Chilsung Liquor

Model: Shin Min Ah

cheoeum

Chungcheongbuk-do

Cheongpung (시원한 청풍)

From: Chungbuk Soju

Model: Ha Yeon Joo

cheongpung

Chungcheongnam-do

O2Linn (맑을 린)

From: Sunyang

Model: Yoo In Young (former)

o2 lin

Jeollabuk-do

Hite (하이트)

From: Hite Jinro

soju by region 10

Jeollanam-do

Yipsejoo (잎새주)

From: Bohae

Model: Hong Jin Young

yipsaeju

Gyeongsangbuk-do

Cham (참)

From: Kumbokju

Model: Kang Sora

cham

Gyeongsangnam-do

Joeun Day (좋은데이)

From: Muhak

Model: Park Soo Jin

joeun

White (화이트)

From: Muhak

soju by region 9

Busan

C1

From: Daesun

soju by region 5

Jeulgeowuh Yeh (즐거워예)

From: Daesun

soju by region 6

Busan is not a province, but as the second largest city in Korea, it gets its own soju icon like Seoul.

Jeju

Hallasan (한라산물 순한소주)

From: Hallasan

soju by region 12

Visual representation of the popular brands by region:

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Image credit: Visual Dive

Read more: Trends in Korean Alcohol: More People Preferring Weaker and Smoother Liquor

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