한국의 주류제도와 전통주산업

Abstract

금년으로 「주세법」을 제정한 지 100년, 그리고 농민주와 민속주 추천제도를 도입한 지 20여 년이 지났다. 그동안 정부는 주류에 대한 제도정비와 함께 전통주업체의 제조 및 판매면허 요건을 완화해 왔다. 또한 제조방법과 원료사용, 판매방법에 대한 규제를 개선하고 시설 개·보수와 원료구입 자금지원, 홍보 및 판매촉진 등의 산업적 육성정책을 추진해 왔다. 하지만 이와 같은 노력은 대부분의 국민들에게 제대로 알려져 있지 않을 뿐만 아니라, 그 성과가 어떠한지 평가도 이루어 지지 않고 있는 것이 현실이다. 이 책은 주류분야의 규제개혁과 제도의 변화 속에서 전통주산업이 어떻게 성장·발전해 왔으며, 앞으로 해결해야 할 과제에 대하여 설문조사와 국내외 관련 문헌을 기초로 검토한 것이다.

More than 20 years have passed since the government introduced the farmers' liquor and folk liquor recommendation system and the policy of promoting traditional alcoholic beverages. In those years, the government relaxed the requirements needed to produce and sell traditional liquors together with institutional reform on alcoholic beverages. In addition, the government improved regulations on production methods, use of raw materials, and sales methods and has been carrying out liquor industry promotion policies which include facility repair and improvement, raw material purchase funding, and public relations and sales promotion. But such institutional reform on alcoholic beverages and traditional liquor industry promotion policies have not been well publicized and the achievements from the policies are not properly evaluated as well. In an attempt to find ways to develop Koreas's traditional liquor industry, this study examines its current status and problems, as well as the alcoholic beverage industry in general since the liberation of the country in 1945 to 2010, including the achievements of deregulation and institutional reform. The main research contents are (1) the meaning and importance of the alcoholic beverage industry, (2) classification of periods on the basis of industrial characteristics and examination of the transition of related institutions and policies, (3) production, distribution, and supply and demand of alcoholic beverages by type, and drinking consumption and consumer preferences, (4) the current situation and problems of traditional liquor and makgeolli companies, (5) liquor-related institutions and success stories of major developed countries, and (6) discussions on development direction and policy tasks to revitalize the traditional alcoholic beverage industry. This study summarizes the research work I have carried out in this field for over the past 20 years. It analyzes the results of surveys conducted on producers and consumers to find out about their reactions to the institutional improvement and policy achievements that have been made in the field. Some of the most representative research work I have carried out on traditional alcoholic beverages are a case study of Andong soju conducted ​​in the early 1990s, presentation of measures to improve alcoholic beverage-related institutions while participating as a member of the Regulatory Reform Committee and the Special Commission on Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Policies, and surveys and researches on folk liquors and farmers' liquors in 2004, 2007 and 2009. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 209 companies and 1,000 consumers. The survey contents include the situation and problems of traditional liquor companies, future development direction and policy tasks, and institutional achievements. The main findings are as follows. Although it has been over 20 years since the liberalization of production licences for traditional alcoholic drinks, it is still not easy to find cases of success. What should be done and how can the traditional liquor industry be developed? Firstly, the traditional liquors that are drunk as gifts over festive holidays and out of curiosity should be changed into liquors that are drunk at ordinary times. Questions were asked about the urgent tasks for the popularization of traditional liquors, and the results showed that taste and quality improvement is the most urgent task, with 64.8% of the respondents saying so, followed by active public relations and sales promotions (35.6%), development of diverse products (27.4%), enhancement of purchase convenience (16.3%), provision of information on traditional alcoholic beverages (14.3%), improvement of packaging and design (13.2%), lowering of price (12.5%), expansion of places for drinking traditional liquors (8.0%), and development of snacks served with alcoholic beverages (4.0%). Based on the above results, the following suggestions can be made on the basic directions for the development of the traditional liquor industry. (1) It is necessary to improve the quality of traditional liquors, including taste and fragrance, hangover elimination effect, etc., develop diverse new products that fit the preferences of young and common people and that have health benefits, and improve packaging and design. (2) For the competitiveness enhancement of traditional liquor companies and the stabilization of their management, policy support is necessary. As for small companies, it is necessary to modernize the facilities, improve packaging and design, and provide financing support for the capital needed in purchasing raw ingredients, manpower cultivation, education and training, management consulting, etc. (3) It is also necessary to manage the quality to increase consumers' trust on traditional liquors and improve the product indication system and branding to allow differentiated distribution. In the case of specific folk liquors and local specialty liquors, the local government and the related industry must institutionalize quality standards and indication methods concerning raw ingredients, production methods, location of origin, etc. And, through rational quality management, branding and differentiated distribution must be pursued. (4) In order to improve the negative image of traditional liquors and promote consumption, active public relations and sales promotion are needed. Producer organizations need to take the lead and make efforts to publicize traditional liquors to the consumers in both Korea and overseas through diverse events, such as local festivals, experience tourism, tasting events, and product contests. (5) Differentiated taxes are needed for traditional liquors. In other words, it is necessary to exempt taxes on small companies and offer additional reductions to small companies below a certain size. (6) There is a need to make institutional improvement and adjust the administrative management system for alcoholic beverages. Currently, an approval system is operated for folk liquors and farmers' liquors as an exceptional measure, and it is necessary to inspect whether the procedures, methods, and standards of the system fit the original purpose. Development strategies are presented for five kinds of alcoholic beverages (i.e., home-brewed liquors, traditional and folk liquors, farmers' liquors, local specialty liquors, and ordinary traditional liquors) that are classified based on the purpose, type, and characteristics of business. Firstly, home-brewed liquor producers must be permitted to make liquors to a certain scale. The government should consolidate the system so that home-made liquors can be shared and drank during family ceremonial occasions and local festivals, and provide support for the supply of raw ingredients and the education and training of liquor producers. As traditional folk liquors have their purpose in preserving and succeeding the traditional food culture in the liquors field, it is necessary to strictly follow traditional production methods and manage the quality. In this case, it is necessary to reduce or exempt tax and provide financial support for repair and maintenance of facilities, public demonstrations, and other promotional activities as in the case of the benefits provided to cultural masters. In the case of farmers' liquors, it is necessary to provide facility and operating funds, technology and management guidance, and public relations and marketing support since they stimulate the consumption of raw-ingredient agricultural products through farmers' participation in the processing business. Since farmers' liquor companies play the public role of invigorating the local economy by stimulating urban-rural exchanges, it is feasible to provide relatively more support, such as tax reliefs and special provisions on their processing and distribution. In the case of local specialty liquors, the products should meet the requirements of traditional folk liquors with respect to the eligibility of running the business, production methods, and historical value since the products are based on traditional culture that is unique to the region, and they must satisfy the locality of both raw ingredients and production methods. As for the support for businesses, it wouldn't be unreasonable if it is carried out as in the case of traditional folk liquors. As for the ordinary traditional liquors, they refer to all traditional liquors that are not included in the four kinds of traditional liquors mentioned above. Takjoo, the unrefined rice wine, and yakjoo (clear rice wine) belong to the ordinary traditional liquor category. Since ordinary traditional liquor companies play important roles, such as consumption of agricultural raw materials, job creation, import substitution, and export increase, it would be possible to provide support with respect to stable supply and demand of raw ingredients, public relations and sales promotion, and provision of market information. Dong-Phil Lee PresidentKorea Rural Economic InstituteE-mail address: ldphil@krei.re.kr