--- title: South Koreans Are The World's Biggest Consumers Of Hard Liquor | TIME description: Market-research firm Euromonitor International reports South Korea is the single biggest consumer of hard liquor in the world. canonical: https://time.com/video/okastcdb/ og:title: South Koreans Are The World's Biggest Consumers Of Hard Liquor og:description: Market-research firm Euromonitor International reports South Korea is the single biggest consumer of hard liquor in the world. og:url: https://time.com/video/okastcdb/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/okastcdb/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: South Koreans Are The World's Biggest Consumers Of Hard Liquor twitter:description: Market-research firm Euromonitor International reports South Korea is the single biggest consumer of hard liquor in the world. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/okastcdb/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # South Koreans Are The World's Biggest Consumers Of Hard Liquor > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: South Koreans Are The World's Biggest Consumers Of Hard Liquor [Watch (HLS stream): South Koreans Are The World's Biggest Consumers Of Hard Liquor](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/okastcdb.m3u8) (1:15)  _Published 2014-02-12. Market-research firm Euromonitor International reports South Korea is the single biggest consumer of hard liquor in the world._ --- Jul 27, 2023 4:13 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Know Right Now: World's Biggest Tomato Fight Turns 70](/video/8tG5Axdr/) ### Know Right Now: World's Biggest Tomato Fight Turns 70 [Sinkhole in South Korea](/video/0FFDeEag/) ### Sinkhole in South Korea [North Korea Bars South Koreans from Kaesong](/video/WGGrzTcx/) ### North Korea Bars South Koreans from Kaesong --- ## Transcript According to a new study, South Koreans can drink just about anyone under the table. Market research firm Euromonitor International reports, South Korea is the single biggest consumer of hard liquor in the world. Courts broke the ounces into what might be an even more universal measure for this sort of thing, shots. South Koreans knocked back 13. 7 shots every week on average, more than twice their closest competitor, the Russians. The drink of choice is Soju, a fermented spirit usually around 20 % alcohol by volume. Of course, vodka is typically 40 % alcohol and a recent study pointed to a lower life expectancy in Russia because of excessive drinking. So it all evened out. Soju is massively popular in South Korea. A report in The Guardian put soju at 97 % of the country's domestic alcohol market. The drinking is typically social according to the New York Times, which explains it's a way to bond over work. " He who drinks more, works better" is a common saying in South Korea. And the working person's drink of choice is often 'The Bomb', a shot glass of soju added to a glass of beer. Of course, it's not all happy hour. That same New York Times report explained Seoul began a public campaign in 2012 to crack down on drunken violence. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"South Koreans Are The World's Biggest Consumers Of Hard Liquor","description":"Market-research firm Euromonitor International reports South Korea is the single biggest consumer of hard liquor in the world.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/okastcdb/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-02-12T16:19:54.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/okastcdb.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/okastcdb/","duration":"PT1M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/okastcdb/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```