South Korea: Hite Jinro decides not to sell brewery, produce soju there instead

Hite Jinro Co., South Korea's second-largest beer maker by sales, said on March 7 that it will produce the local distilled liquor soju at one of its beer factories as it abandons a plan to sell off the plant, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

The brewer said part of the production line is being retrofitted to make soju at its beer factory in Masan, an industrial city located some 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

The company aims to produce soju at its beer plant by the end of this year.

"We made the decision to meet growing demand for soju and to resolve the local community's concerns about possible job cuts," company spokeswoman Nho Eun-jung said.

Soju, a rice-based liquor, is popular among South Koreans.

The beer factory in Masan employs about 200 people, according to the company.

Hite Jinro sells 150 million bottles of soju per month, making it the largest soju maker in South Korea. The company has three soju plants and three separate beer factories in South Korea.

07 March, 2018