I like drinking.
And whenever people ask me about Korean drinking culture, I sometimes wonder what exactly they mean. Do they want to know how much Koreans drink, how often we drink, or what actually happens when Koreans get together for a night of drinking?
But when I think about it, there are different kinds of people who “like drinking.”
Some people genuinely like alcohol itself. Some like the social experience of drinking. Some simply like being around people, and alcohol happens to be part of that. And some people love the atmosphere—the busy streets full of bars and restaurants, the noise, the late-night energy.
Me?
I actually like alcohol itself.
And last night, as usual, I had some drinks with dinner.
Of course, this doesn’t apply to every Korean. But in Korea, when someone asks,
“How about dinner tonight?”
sometimes there’s an unspoken second part:
“…and maybe a few drinks?”
That’s why, when we really mean just dinner, we sometimes jokingly add:
“No drinking!”
Anyway, back to last night.
Dinner Started With Korean BBQ—and Soju
For dinner, we chose something Koreans simply call gogi—“meat.”
We ordered galmaegisal, a cut of pork often translated as pork skirt meat, and so-makchang, grilled beef intestine. We also had dwaeji-makchang, the pork version, and finished with grilled pork skin.
There were four adults, and altogether we ordered about seven servings of meat.
Seven servings for four people?
That might sound like a lot.
But don’t picture seven giant American-style steaks.
A “serving” at a Korean BBQ restaurant is quite different. As you can see in the photos, the actual amount of meat on each plate isn’t as huge as the number might make it sound.
And at a Korean BBQ restaurant, you’re not eating only meat.
There are vegetables, side dishes, sauces, and other things on the table. You grill a little meat, eat, drink, talk, grill some more, and keep going.
It’s a different rhythm from ordering one big entrée, finishing it, and leaving.
The Alcohol Koreans Drink
There are many kinds of alcohol commonly drunk in Korea: beer, soju, makgeolli, whiskey, and others.
Soju and makgeolli may be less familiar to people outside Korea, but they’re completely ordinary here.
Makgeolli is a cloudy Korean rice alcohol, usually around 5–6% ABV, depending on the product.
Some people drink it almost like a casual beverage.
Makgeolli also has a long connection with farming and physical labor in Korea.
For generations, people working in rice fields or farms would take a break and drink makgeolli. It’s filling as well as refreshing, so it could be a way to rest, quench your thirst, and put something in your stomach at the same time.
But this isn’t only an old tradition you see in historical dramas.
It still happens today.
Even now, you can see people doing physically demanding work having makgeolli or beer during a break or with lunch. Sometimes people even drink before the workday is completely finished.
Obviously, not everyone does this, and there are plenty of jobs and situations where drinking while working would be inappropriate or dangerous.
But the image of someone taking a break from hard physical work with a bowl of makgeolli isn’t something that disappeared decades ago.
It’s still part of everyday life in Korea.
My Drink Is Soju
Personally, I mostly drink soju.
And I like it.
The regular green-bottle soju you see everywhere in Korea is usually somewhere around 16% alcohol, depending on the brand, and a standard bottle contains about 360 ml.
How should I describe the taste?
It doesn’t have some wonderful, distinctive aroma.
And I’m not sure I’d tell someone trying it for the first time that it’s an amazingly delicious drink.
If we’re talking purely about flavor, I’m not even sure I can explain why it’s so good.
But for Koreans, there’s something about soju.
“Let’s have a drink” can very easily mean “Let’s have some soju.”
Pork belly?
Soju.
Raw fish?
Soju.
Meeting a friend after work?
Soju.
At some point, maybe the taste of soju stops being just the taste of the liquid itself.
Maybe all the meals, conversations, friends, and nights we’ve spent with those little green bottles somehow become part of the taste too.
We Used to Drink Until We Were Drunk
Korean drinking culture has changed quite a bit.
These days, it’s much more normal to drink moderately and say,
“Okay, let’s go home.”
You don’t see as many completely drunk people on the streets as you used to.
But when I was in my 20s and 30s, the atmosphere was different.
Back then, to exaggerate only slightly, the attitude could sometimes be:
“Let’s drink until we die!”
Once you started drinking, the night wasn’t necessarily over until everyone was properly drunk.
Going home while you were still completely sober almost felt like you hadn’t really gone out.
Thinking about it now, it sounds exhausting.
Haha.
But What Does “Drinking a Lot” Actually Mean?
When I first thought about writing this post, the question seemed simple:
Do Koreans really drink that much?
Then I realized I wasn’t even sure what “that much” meant.
Does it mean drinking a large amount in one sitting?
Does it mean drinking frequently?
Or does it mean spending a very long time drinking once you start?
After thinking about last night, I realized that for Koreans who enjoy drinking, sometimes it’s a combination of all three.
Of course, some Koreans don’t drink at all, so I can’t say, “Koreans drink a lot.”
But among people who enjoy alcohol, there are certainly people who drink seven days a week.
When I was in my 30s, I often drank more than four times a week.
Even now, I usually drink at least once a week.
Based on my own experience and the people around me who enjoy drinking, having two or three bottles of soju over the course of a night isn’t particularly unusual.
People who are known as serious drinkers can drink much more.
There are even people who say they can drink more than ten bottles by themselves. You sometimes hear stories like this from Korean celebrities because they talk publicly about how much they can drink on TV shows.
Ten bottles, of course, is not normal.
That’s an extreme amount, even here.
How Much Do I Drink?
Normally, I’ll drink around two or three bottles of soju.
But if I’m drinking slowly, eating, and talking for a long time, I can sometimes drink five or six bottles over the course of the night.
There’s something strange about drinking speed.
If I drink soju quickly, almost like water, I get drunk very quickly.
But if I’m eating and talking and drinking slowly, I can keep going for a surprisingly long time.
And that made me wonder if the interesting part of Korean drinking culture isn’t simply how much we drink.
Maybe it’s also how long we drink.
Last Night Started at 7:30 PM
Last night, four adults who hadn’t gotten together in a while met for dinner.
We started eating and drinking at around 7:30 PM.
We grilled meat.
We drank.
We talked.
We grilled some more.
And before we knew it, it was around 9 PM.
Dinner at the restaurant was finished.
But the drinking wasn’t.
We walked back home and started again.
This time, we had fried chicken, octopus, and grilled shrimp as anju—food eaten while drinking.
And, of course, more soju.
At home, the four of us shared a 1.8-liter bottle of soju.
I didn’t take a photo of the empty bottle, but yes.
We finished it.
Interestingly, we couldn’t finish all the food.
There were leftovers.
But the soju?
Gone.
By the time we cleaned everything up and got ready for bed, it was 2 AM.
We had started dinner at 7:30 PM.
That means we’d spent more than six hours eating, drinking, and talking.
When I look at it that way, maybe the surprising thing about Korean drinking isn’t just the amount of alcohol.
Maybe it’s the amount of time we’re willing to spend drinking it.
First Round, Second Round, Third Round
There’s another part of Korean drinking culture that’s useful to understand.
We call the first place we go il-cha—the “first round.”
Usually, that’s dinner.
You eat and drink there.
Then, if you move somewhere else, that’s i-cha—the second round.
Move again?
Sam-cha.
Third round.
Of course, plenty of people these days finish after the first round and go home. Everyone drinks differently.
But in my experience, if I’m having dinner with people and everyone is enjoying the night, continuing to a second—and sometimes a third—place feels completely natural.
Last night, the restaurant was our first round.
Going home and opening that 1.8-liter bottle of soju was basically our second.
In My 20s, the Third Round Was Usually Karaoke
When I was in my 20s, there weren’t as many things to do late at night as there are now.
So after eating and drinking during the first round, then drinking some more during the second, the third stop was often obvious:
Noraebang.
Korean karaoke.
We’d order beer and start singing.
And somehow, after drinking for hours, singing loudly and jumping around made us feel like we were sobering up.
So naturally, we’d sing harder.
And jump around more.
And drink beer while doing it.
Thinking about it now, there’s something slightly ridiculous about trying to “sober up” by drinking beer and screaming songs in a karaoke room.
But that’s what we did.
Haha.
Eventually, when everyone was exhausted, we’d go home.
Now We Talk About Our Kids
A lot of time has passed since then.
I’m a parent now.
Naturally, drinking with people today is different from drinking with friends in my 20s.
Most of our conversation last night was about our children.
Parenting.
School.
Our kids’ friendships.
The conversations have become much more serious.
But something hasn’t changed.
I still enjoy sitting around a table, having a drink, and talking with people for hours.
In my 20s, we talked about going out and having fun.
Now we talk about our children.
The subjects changed.
The enjoyment of spending a long evening together didn’t.
So, Do Koreans Really Drink That Much?
I don’t know.
I can’t speak for every Korean.
Some Koreans don’t drink at all.
Some get drunk after one glass.
Some hate drinking culture completely.
And then there are people like me who simply enjoy alcohol.
But after thinking about last night, I think I can say one thing.
When Koreans who enjoy drinking get together, we can spend a very long time around a bottle of soju.
Dinner turns into another round.
The location changes.
The food changes.
The conversation changes.
And somehow, hours disappear.
Maybe when people say Koreans drink “a lot,” a lot isn’t only about the number of bottles.
Maybe it’s also about drinking often, drinking for a long time, and simply spending a lot of our social time with alcohol on the table.
At least for me, drinking isn’t only about getting drunk.
It’s also about eating good food, talking with people, and spending a long evening together.
That’s what happened last night.
Dinner started at 7:30 PM.
The night finally ended at 2 AM.
And maybe that’s my answer to the question that made me write this post in the first place.
What’s drinking culture like where you live?
Is it very different from ours?
Or maybe, after all, we’re not that different.