Traditional liquor is going on 'K-Wind'...But the reality is David and Goliath.

[Anchor]
Recently, as the popularity of Korean food such as ramen and kimchi has increased overseas, interest in our traditional liquor is also growing.

Traditional liquor companies are also trying to change with a variety of scents and ingredients.

However, there are many obstacles to overcome in order to succeed in overseas markets.

Reporter Oh Dong-gun covered it.

[Reporter]
One or two glasses!

The alcohol that visitors taste and enjoy is our traditional liquor.

[Kim Yeon-soo / Osan City, Gyeonggi-do: Fresh and clean. I liked it a bit. It's delicious.]


Our traditional liquor, which maintained its unique taste, is changing to suit the tastes of modern consumers, including the addition of fruit flavor and herbs.

[Choi Seungyoon / Seocho-dong, Seoul: I think scent is the most important thing. So I usually look at the scent or characteristics of alcohol.]

In particular, as our various alcohol cultures such as 'soju with pork belly' appear in dramas and movies, overseas interest in traditional liquor is also increasing.

[Olga / Russian tourist: I think the desire to save the tradition is so beautiful and it tastes so diverse that everyone can enjoy it]

In fact, exports of traditional stocks have peaked since 2019 due to the COVID-19 period, but exports fell 7% and 2.5% last year, slowing down.

According to UN data, Korean alcohol accounts for the top 30 alcohol markets in the world, which is currently weak.

But that means that there is also a high potential for growth in the future.

The problem is that the global liquor market is highly competitive and requires a lot of investment in all facilities necessary for export.

[Joo Bong-seok / CEO of Korean liquor bottle shop: The most urgent thing to do is to deliver raw and raw wine, so it takes time to move, so it can affect the quality.]

In the case of French wine, which firmly maintains its No. 1 market share in the global liquor export market with 19%, large wineries are the center, and most traditional liquor operators in Korea are small businesses with sales of less than 1 billion won account for 90.7%.

In addition, the industry analyzes that it takes a long time for new alcohol to squeeze in the gap at a time when traditional alcoholic beverages of each country are already in place.

Moreover, it is difficult to establish export strategies as consumer demands are subdivided, such as looking for expensive premium alcoholic beverages or preferring alcoholic beverages.


, traditional Korean liquor that seeks to enter the global market by inheriting the popularity of ramen, kimchi, and Korean food.

However, the obstacles to become a new growth engine for K-food also seem clear.

This is YTN Oh Dong-gun.

Filmmaker: Ryu Seok-gyu
Design: Lee Na-young