South Korea’s culture of heavy drinking has long been seen as a male-dominated phenomenon, fuelled by corporate workplace and business drinking traditions.
But over the past decade, rates of high-risk drinking for men (defined as seven or more shots of traditional soju rice wine, or five cans of beer, in a single sitting, at least twice a week) have fallen significantly among all age groups. For women, the trajectory has been the reverse.
High-risk drinking for women (five or more shots of soju, or three cans of beer, in one sitting, at least twice a week) rose significantly among those over 30 between 2016 and 2025. That’s according to a new analysis by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), based on last year’s annual Community Health Survey data and reported by Seoul Economic Daily.
Among women in their 20s, high-risk drinking declined by only 18.5%, compared with a sharp 41.6% drop among men in their 20s. But rates rose by 19.1% among women in their 30s, 41% in their 40s and 13.2% in their 50s. The findings highlight “a growing divergence in the country’s drinking habits”, said The Korea Times.
No longer just a ‘male social ritual’
At company dinners, heavy drinking has become far less common, said Aju Press, a South Korean news agency. But “drinking has quietly moved into the home”.
For many women, alcohol has become “more varied, more accessible and more seamlessly woven into everyday life”. One “popular explanation” is that more women have entered the workforce and become “more exposed to Korea’s long-standing drinking culture”, with the “double burden” of juggling childcare and household responsibilities.
But it is “difficult to attribute the increase solely to stress”, said sociology professor Kim Yoon-tae; there’s a broader cultural shift afoot. “As women’s economic and social participation has expanded, there may be more occasions when they drink at workplaces or social gatherings,” he said, such as networking events. Drinking “remains a strong part of social culture”.
The rising number of single-person households has also “normalised honsul” – drinking alone, said Aju Press. Convenience stores have become “major retailers” of alcohol, and the growing popularity of wine and cocktails like highballs has “broadened alcohol’s appeal beyond the traditional soju-centred drinking culture”.
The hit South Korean TV comedy series “Work Later, Drink Now”, which follows three women in their 30s “whose friendships revolve around sharing drinks after work”, captures “the cultural change”. Boozing has become “a familiar part of women’s everyday routines rather than a predominantly male social ritual”.
Men ‘still outpace women’
Despite the cultural shift, men still “outpaced women on every indicator”, said The Korea Times, drinking substantially more. Half of men in their 30s, 40s and 50s engaged in binge drinking, and more than one in five men in their 40s and 50s qualified as high-risk drinkers.
“This analysis confirmed that Korea’s overall drinking behaviour is improving, but men in their 30s, 40s and 50s still show high rates of monthly binge drinking and high-risk drinking,” said KDCA commissioner Lim Seung-kwan. These behaviours “raise the risk of disease, injury and alcohol dependence”.
South Korea’s high-risk drinking rate may have “come down somewhat over the past decade”, but it’s still “near the top by international standards”, said Seoul Economic Daily. Its monthly binge drinking rate ranks fifth-highest among 27 developed countries, according to the OECD.