Drinking in Korea: soju, pouring rules and how to decline politely

Soju is the clear spirit in the green bottle, distinctly weaker than most Western spirits and drunk neat from small glasses. It is the default, and it is cheap enough that price is rarely a factor in the choice.

Beer is drunk alongside it and often with it — a shot of soju dropped into a glass of beer is a common and deliberately quick way to drink.

Makgeolli is unfiltered rice wine, cloudy, lightly sparkling and lower in alcohol, served in a bowl rather than a glass. It is associated with rain, with mountains, and with the pancake places at the foot of hiking trails.

Anju — food ordered specifically to eat while drinking — is not optional in practice. Korean drinking is done with food on the table, and a bar will usually expect you to order something.

You do not pour your own drink. Someone else fills your glass and you fill theirs, and keeping an eye on whether a neighbour's glass is empty is part of sitting at the table.

Pour and receive with two hands, or with one hand supported at the wrist or forearm by the other. This is the single gesture most worth copying, and doing it marks you as someone paying attention.

When drinking with someone noticeably older or more senior, it is customary to turn your head away slightly as you drink. You will see it constantly once you know to look.

Glasses are refilled when empty rather than topped up, so leaving a little in the glass is the quiet way to slow down.

The reputation of Korean drinking culture as relentless comes largely from workplace settings and has softened considerably in recent years. As a visitor you are under far less obligation than the stories suggest.

Saying you do not drink is understood and generally accepted without argument. Saying it once, early and pleasantly, works better than deflecting each round.

If you want to be sociable without drinking, accepting a poured glass and leaving it mostly untouched is a normal middle path — the pouring is the gesture, and the drinking is somewhat separate from it.

Pouring for others while drinking little yourself is a completely functional way to spend an evening at a Korean table.

Drink-driving enforcement in Korea is strict and the threshold is low. Nobody drives after drinking, and this is one of the areas where social pressure runs firmly in the sensible direction.

The subway stops before the night does — see our subway guide for the practical consequence. Late nights end in taxis, and demand around closing time in the entertainment districts is heavy.

Drinking in public is legal and unremarkable. Convenience-store tables and riverside parks fill up on summer evenings, and this is one of the pleasanter and cheaper ways to spend one.

Anyone under nineteen by Korean reckoning cannot buy alcohol, and identification is checked more often than visitors expect.