Alcohol consumption, regardless of its adverse long-term effects, is a defining component of the culture of a nation, society, or organization. This month, The KAIST Herald performed an in-depth analysis on alcohol consumption, its sociocultural influences, and typical norms. Part one analyzes the social phenomenon of alcohol in Korea; part two will discuss the alcohol consumption behaviors unique to KAIST; part three will illuminate worldwide trends and conventions of alcohol consumption; part four will conclude with the problems associated with alcohol consumption in different cultures, with the primary emphasis on Korea’s collective binge drinking phenomenon.

Alcohol in Korea

Korea’s unique cultural, historical, and economic conditions have resulted in distinctive alcohol drinking customs, which is chiefly characterized by the overwhelming consumption of domestically produced soju, and the gathering of coworkers and colleagues drinking together at hwe-shik. While many other factors make Korean alcohol consumption unique, the presence of a unanimous choice of alcohol as well as the setting under which it is consumed are the two most prominent factors to which many young Korean adults are able to relate.

The venue at which alcohol is consumed is usually a bar or a restaurant. Most Korean drinking gatherings are conducted with colleagues at work. These workplace gatherings, called hwe-shik, are an integral part of Korean drinking culture. Almost every organizational entity in Korea, whether it be a company, a research institute, or a government department, engages in hwe-shik in one form or another. As such, the typical Korean seldom consumes alcohol at the comfort of his or her home.

Since a typical gathering of hwe-shik is comprised of colleagues, alcohol consumption behavior for an average Korean is closely associated with the individual’s occupation. Alcohol consumption is usually heavy in conservative, male-dominant pockets of the Korean workforce including, but most certainly not limited to, employees in automotive industries, heavy industries, prosecutor’s offices, and the military. Receiving a shot of hard liquor from a senior and consuming it on spot is considered to be a demonstration of loyalty and trust in Korean culture. Thus, Korea’s drinking culture is closely related to the hierarchical composition of Korean social structures.

Soju is the most common alcohol of choice in hwe-shik settings. In fact, soju is by far the most popular Korean alcoholic beverage. It is clear, colorless, and contains alcohol by volume of 19 to 21%. There exist some regional differences in soju in terms of the label and brand, but the variation in taste among regional brands is negligible. While mostly domestically produced and consumed, Jinro and Lotte soju are the first and third, respectively, best-selling alcohol brands in the world. Traditional soju is produced from rice, but the modern day soju in its diluted liquor form is produced from tapioca.

The modern day soju is an interesting consequence of former President Park Chung-Hee’s prohibition on using rice and rice products as the prime ingredient for alcoholic beverages. The rationale behind the prohibition was to fully distribute rice as a food supply, not as a source of alcohol, which was considered to be a luxury at the time. Soju is originally a distilled alcoholic beverage, which undergoes a complicated and resource-intensive process for production. As the use of grain and wheat was prohibited, alcohol manufacturers produced soju in its diluted liquor form. Diluted liquor is produced by mixing fermented tapioca, distilled ethanol, and water. Its considerably lower price as opposed to distilled soju, and its mass production regime have rendered soju a unanimously consumed alcoholic beverage in Korea.

Furthermore, Korean alcohol consumption is closely linked to food consumption, soju and samgyupsal (a type of Korean barbecue), beer and fried chicken being iconic examples. While many foreign drinking cultures do not strictly involve consuming food in conjunction, it is almost a prerequisite for Korean drinking customs. For example, drinking soju without any side dishes is called “gang-soju,” and this type of alcohol consumption, which is typically done individually, is somewhat frowned upon as it is typically perceived to be associated with alcoholism.

For many years, domestically produced soju, beer, and makgoli have dominated the middle-class drinking culture. While the past decade has witnessed a surge in the demand for foreign alcoholic beverages mostly spearheaded by wine, these beverages are not widely recognized, let alone consumed ubiquitously throughout the nation. Wine is typically consumed in restaurants, wine bars, at home, or during picnics with friends and family, but it is not consumed during hwe-shik. The divergence from domestically produced drinks towards foreign products is a recent trend directly resulting from Korea’s economic growth and a continuously globalizing market.

Korean drinking culture is characterized chiefly by the mass consumption of soju in hwe-shik settings. In Korea, alcohol acts as a ubiquitous social lubricant that is intertwined closely with the workplace. Soju, the principal alcohol of choice among Koreans, has evolved from a luxury to a commodity through the loosening of manufacturing regulations and mass production. The drinking culture of Korea has been a direct byproduct of the cultural and economic properties of modern day Korea.

Alcohol in KAIST

Given KAIST’s unique status as a science and technology institute, and its comparatively rural setting compared to its counterparts, the alcohol consumption behavior exhibited by students also has unique features. Alcohol consumption in KAIST, while sharing many traits with the Korean drinking culture, still bears many unique aspects, such as the time and setting of alcohol consumption, and the relatively higher number of cases of underage drinking.

The relatively rural setting of KAIST compared to those of highly urbanized university campuses in Seoul has also been a major influence in its drinking culture. One such influence is the time at which alcohol is consumed. KAIST students typically convene at a time no earlier than 10 or 11 o’clock at night to start drinking, whereas an overwhelming majority of Koreans would be inclined to start heading back home at that time. This is mostly due to the fact that drinking establishments are not only close to the campus, but also because no curfew is in effect at the dormitories.

The time at which KAIST students consume alcohol is unique to KAIST itself because the overwhelming majority live in on-campus dormitories. This is a unique feature among Korean universities. Many universities offer a limited number of dormitories, and more often than not, getting keys to a dormitory may be more competitive than receiving a scholarship. Furthermore, the dormitories of other universities have strict curfews. As many KAIST students have lectures and experiments that extend well beyond midnight, the time of drinking is naturally delayed. Coupled with the close proximity of the dormitories from local establishments, students living in off-campus housing are not bound by the shutdown of public transportation.

As a male-dominant technical institute, KAIST bears many of the more conservative aspects of Korean drinking culture. However, despite the asymmetrical gender ratio and the science-and-technology-intensive academic focus, the student alcohol consumption appears to be lower than that of many Korean universities. Although official statistics on the alcohol consumption of KAIST students is not available, KAIST students are generally considered to consume less alcohol than students of other universities.

The overwhelming majority of KAIST freshman are graduates of science high schools. Most of these graduates, as well as those from regular high schools enter KAIST just after grade 11, one or two years short of the legal drinking age. The incontrovertible and illegal bond between freshman orientation and alcohol has been a source of controversy every semester when new freshman are admitted to KAIST. Nevertheless, given KAIST’s unique academic policies, alcohol plays a large role for freshmen students in social gatherings as much as it does for upperclassmen and graduate students.

KAIST has taken several measures in the past to address the issue of underage drinking during orientations. It prohibited upperclassmen from forcing freshman to join drinking sessions, and attempted to promote safe drinking practices to incoming freshman. However, no disciplinary measures are devised for students who break the school’s regulations. The lack of an enforcing mechanism to prohibit freshman students from consuming alcohol leaves much to be expected. Local establishments have also cooperated with the school by issuing ID checks to incoming customers. Only government issued ID cards are valid, and the once-valid KAIST student ID is no longer an acceptable method of identification. Despite the illegality of underage drinking, alcohol, much like hwe-shik, has transformed into a localized social phenomenon of KAIST.

KAIST students practice a different form of alcohol consumption, which is predominantly illustrated by the time of alcohol consumption, as well as the initial drinking age. This is a direct outcome of KAIST’s relatively rural setting in comparison to other universities and academic policies regarding accepting high school students after their second year. While some of these aspects are subject to criticism, from a social viewpoint, it is nevertheless a defining quality in alcohol consumption behavior of KAIST students.