Whiskey Popularity Spurs Not Just 'Open Run' but Also 'Direct Purchase'... Thirsty Enthusiasts

Whiskey Direct Purchase Popularity Causes 'Open Run' Shortage
Frequent Sharing of Overseas Whiskey Sales Information
Excise Tax on Imported Liquor Last Year 2.5 Times Higher Than Previous Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] "You can't even get it by paying money here, so you have to look overseas."

Kim In-mo (34, pseudonym), an office worker living in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, has recently become deeply fascinated by whiskey. Every time he goes to a large supermarket, he started picking up a discounted bottle of alcohol, and now he visits liquor markets whenever he has time. Not stopping there, these days he has turned his attention to 'overseas direct purchase.' This is because it is possible to buy at a cheaper price than in Korea and relatively easily obtain liquors that are hard to find domestically. Kim said, "Including shipping and agency fees, it's about 10,000 to 20,000 won cheaper, but it's nice to be able to get whiskey, which is often out of stock domestically these days, without difficulty," adding, "Sometimes there are big discounts, so it feels like a 'great find.'"

As 'home drinking' has become a mainstream trend, and a shortage phenomenon has occurred mainly for popular whiskeys in Korea, consumers are increasingly turning to overseas direct purchases beyond just 'open runs' (rushing to buy limited stock).

According to data provided by the Korea Customs Service to Asia Economy on the 6th, the liquor tax imposed on alcohol imported from overseas into Korea last year was about 5.9 billion won, more than 2.5 times the previous year (2.2 billion won). This figure includes both individuals and import companies. Among them, overseas direct purchases through delivery accounted for 5.5 billion won, the majority. The rest were cases where travelers directly paid liquor tax at customs. Compared to 2019, before COVID-19 (1.9 billion won), it has tripled. While the overall increase in overseas direct purchases is partly due to reduced travel demand, the number of people directly buying hard-to-find liquors overseas has also increased accordingly.

As evidence of this, information about direct overseas purchases is frequently posted in whiskey-related online communities and chat rooms. People share methods for overseas direct purchases, and when reasonably priced or hard-to-find whiskeys appear, they even share 'coordinates' and buy them. There is even an application (app) that allows users to see sites where such overseas direct purchases are possible at a glance.

Originally, most whiskey purchases were made at large supermarkets. To buy whiskey cheaper than at large supermarkets, one had to use duty-free shops at airports or visit liquor markets. However, as the domestic whiskey shortage worsened, an 'open run' phenomenon emerged, similar to buying luxury bags, and it became common for popular whiskeys to sell out as soon as they arrived.

An official from the Korea Liquor Importers Association explained, "Our liquor market has changed so much that it can be divided into before and after COVID-19, and this phenomenon is one of them," adding, "As the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), who pursue diversity and are familiar with online culture, become the mainstream of the market, the whiskey distribution channels, which were relatively one-sided, seem to be diversifying."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.