Nov 27, 2012

Reprinted from the WSJ – Asia Edition, November 22, 2012 By Joshua Hall This summer was the hottest in 104 years in South Korea, which sent a lot of locals reaching for a cold one. Beer accounted for 60% of the alcohol market by volume last year, with some 1.95 billion liters consumed. Overheated Koreans have particular reason to rue the fact that their...

Jul 26, 2012

Today is the last day to enter the Decanter Asia Wine Awards, a new set of awards that give voice to the Asian wine trade and represent a further shift in the wine industry towards the far east. The UK magazine Decanter has launched a new competition with more of an Asian focus. Wine producers from Asia can enter their wines as long as they are made from 100%...

Jul 23, 2012

Reprinted by kind permission of Yonhapnews Agency. Originally printed on July 18th, 2012 By Joshua Hall Contributing writer SEOUL, July 18 (Yonhap) — Last month, the Fair Trade Commission appeared to have won over the National Tax Service (NTS). Just weeks later, both sides are back to the drawing board after months of wrangling — over Internet wine...

Jul 12, 2012

  The Korea Wine Challenge winners have been announced but what does it mean for Korea? 700 wines were blind tasted this year with five trophies and gold, silver, bronze medals awarded. So what does this say about the market and does it reflect the ‘Korean palate’? There are at least 400 companies importing wine in Korea and 150 of these can...

Apr 6, 2012

Originally printed in the Wall Street Journal, Asia Edition, April 5.  Koreans Raise a Glass to Unintended Consequences Since free-trade deals haven’t brought down wineprices as much as promised, Seoul is now under pressure to deregulate further. By JOSHUAHALL During debates in the U.S. and Korea over ratificationof the free-trade agreement, politicians...

Jan 5, 2012

Editors Note: Since the publication of this article the government has delayed the implementation of the liquor licence changes. Multiple attempts to contact the ministry for clarification went unanswered so we are unable to issue a correction. Sources in the wine industry we spoke to say the liquor licence changes will now be implemented in March. There is a...