Yesterday, a YouTube channel mr.homebrew uploaded a video supporting Jin’s On The LAMP.
The reason is that there are so many restrictions under the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s regulations that it is difficult to properly promote traditional Korean liquor.
After the video was posted, brewers also came forward to say how grateful they were for this kind of content.
People are saying with one voice that Jin genuinely made a proper traditional Korean liquor in order to promote Korean traditional alcohol, and that the relevant regulations need to be revised as soon as possible so that products like this can be properly introduced to the world.
The original law created by the National Tax Service was revised in 2010, but because the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has not shown much interest in the issue, outdated regulations have continued to be maintained through enforcement rules.
Under the Liquor Tax Act, soju, wine, and whiskey do not have to display an expiration or use-by date. However, yakju is subject to a relatively short shelf-life requirement, making it difficult to export. In a sense, the system has been designed in a way that makes it difficult for these products to enter the market.
At 12% alcohol by volume, the alcohol content is high enough to prevent bacterial growth, and the product is sterilized. Requiring a shelf-life date even for sterilized yakju is seen as an obstacle to the development of traditional Korean liquor.
I brought some comments from people.
🍾Three-line summary
BTS Jin launched an excellent traditional yakju brand, but because of the shelf-life regulations, it could not be classified as yakju, so vitamin C was added and it was classified as “other alcoholic beverages” instead.
Imported alcoholic beverages such as wine and whiskey do not have a shelf-life requirement, while only products such as sterilized yakju and beer are subject to one.
The relevant law was revised in 2010, but because the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has not shown interest in the matter, the shelf-life requirement continues to be maintained through enforcement regulations.
So, hopefully, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety will take an interest in abolishing these shelf-life requirements. That’s what I’m saying!
🍾Other alcoholic beverages have relatively lenient regulations... ❌
The regulations for everything other than “other alcoholic beverages” are holding them back... ✅
Korea really needs to overhaul its alcohol regulations.
🍾Especially, we seriously need to get rid of the ad valorem tax system.
🍾I’m a brewer.
In order to move from yakju to “other alcoholic beverages” just to avoid having to display a shelf-life date, additional facilities and equipment are required.
It is not simply a matter of the total capacity of the fermentation tanks. The production tanks, testing equipment, and other facilities also have to meet different requirements. If you do not have the money available for that initial investment, it is extremely difficult.
In other words, these are laws that favor large corporations.
I think it is essentially a case of pulling up the ladder after climbing it.
Investing tens of billions of won in facilities and equipment is a huge burden for small breweries in good regions of Korea, even just in terms of the interest payments.
At a time when it is already difficult to survive on the domestic market alone, we are effectively putting up the barriers to overseas expansion ourselves.
Simply easing these regulations would make it possible for so many excellent Korean alcoholic beverages to be exported.
That is why this latest video from mr homebrew(Sulikneun Jip), which continues to address the regulations surrounding Korean brewing, is so meaningful.
There are still so many hurdles we need to overcome for our traditions to survive and for Korean traditional liquor to expand into overseas markets.
I hope you will continue creating content with this kind of sharp perspective.
Thank you so much.
🍾So, in the end, this means that we ourselves are holding back the development of Korea’s liquor industry...
I hope these regulations are revised quickly so that the day comes when Korean traditional liquors become well known around the world.
🍾Usually, when celebrities or famous people create something, there are cases where they simply put their name on it and make something half-heartedly, which can cause problems. This seems like a really good example of someone actually putting a lot of thought and care into what they made.
🍾I clicked because I wondered if there might be some controversy simply because it was made by a celebrity, but I had no idea regulations like these existed... It looks like he really did everything he could within the legal limits. I hope it does well both in Korea and overseas. 😊
🍾Seokjin, what on earth were you fighting against all this time...?
🍾It said that this was an issue someone needed to speak up about, so I came in surprised—and then I burst out laughing when I saw that the alcohol content was 12.4%, because it’s Seokjin’s birthday! 😍😍🔮🔮💜💜
🍾And honestly, even just looking at the way the employee answered during the consultation, you can tell how meticulously and carefully this liquor was made... I’m really looking forward to it.
#JIN #JinxOnTheLAMP @OnTheLAMP_124 @BTS_twt