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K-SOOL

Korean cuisine has a wide variety of traditional alcoholic drinks, known as sul (술). Many of these drinks end with the Sino-Korean word -ju (주; 酒), and some end with the native Korean word -sul. The Sino-Korean -ju is not used as an independent noun.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

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Korean cuisine has a wide variety of traditional alcoholic drinks, known as sul (술). Many of these drinks end with the Sino-Korean word -ju (주; 酒), and some end with the native Korean word -sul. The Sino-Korean -ju is not used as an independent noun.2

How it started

Mythology

The first story of alcohol appeared in Jewang-Ungi, a Korean historical archive book.

Goguryeo kingdom

The records compiled in 1145, Samguk sagi (history of the Three Kingdoms) is one of the oldest record of Sul. The presence of Sul was given out in a story about the founding of the kingdom, Goguryeo. The story when translated to English: "Haemosu, the son of the god of heaven invited the three daughters of Habaek, a water deity, and treated them to Sul. When the three daughters were about to return home, he seduced the eldest daughter, Yuhwa, and they spent the night together. Thereafter, Yuhwa gave birth to Jumong, the future founder of Goguryeo."

Archaeological study indicates that there are records that show that these brewing skills and techniques were learned by Chinese and Silla dynasty; during the Wei dynasty of China, the governor Gasahyop of the Sadong region transferred the techniques to China and the liquor came to be known as Gokaju.

Baekje

From Wikipedia’s article on K-SOOL, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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