South Korea Ends the Crackdown on Alcohol Brewed for Household Use

In 1995, changes to South Korea’s liquor-tax regime ended the enforcement system that had treated unlicensed alcohol made for household consumption as illicit liquor. The reform reopened legal space for families to make grain-based drinks, including forms of takju commonly associated with makgeolli. Legalization did not restore recipes and skills automatically. Decades of colonial licensing, post-liberation enforcement, grain restrictions, and industrial standardization had already reduced many household traditions, making the reform a starting point for recovery rather than a return to an untouched past.