National Tax Service to hold ‘2026 K-SUUL AWARDS’

Jul 28, 2026, 10:16 am

The National Tax Service is embarking on its second major journey to foster K-liquor into global content, actively supporting exports by discovering outstanding small and medium-sized liquor manufacturers in each region.

The National Tax Service announced on July 27 that it is open for applications from small and medium-sized liquor manufacturers for the '2026 K-SUUL AWARDS' starting today through August 14.

The most notable change in this year's event is the full-scale adoption of a cooking survival show format. It creates a structure where 'regional companies,' which have lower public awareness despite their excellent skills, challenge already renowned 'small and medium-sized companies' in the final evaluation after competing locally.

The intention is to maximize interest and engagement by integrating the tense competitive elements of a cooking survival program into liquor evaluation. In the final evaluation, 8 liquors (White) that passed the preliminary document screening and 32 liquors (Black) that advanced through regional tax office preliminaries will compete fiercely for the honor of the ultimate championship.

The National Tax Service prepared this reform plan by actively reflecting the earnest voices of the liquor industry and public opinion during last year's inaugural event. It significantly enhanced the diversity of the evaluation panel to ensure awards are not biased toward specific categories or regions.

First, Takju (unrefined rice wine), which has the highest number of business locations among liquor manufacturing licensees (1,070 out of 3,325 total), was separated into a distinct category to streamline the evaluation burden. In addition, the evaluation was expanded from a single nationwide batch process to 'preliminary evaluations by regional tax office,' broadening participation opportunities for promising regional small and medium-sized liquor manufacturers.

Outstanding liquors selected for the '2026 K-SUUL AWARDS' will receive unprecedented domestic and international benefits for export and market development.

Selected products will bear the 'NTS Certification Mark' and receive support for entering, displaying, and selling at overseas stores of major distributors. Opportunities to exhibit and promote at the 'K-SUUL Pavilion' in international liquor expos (B2B) will also be provided.

In addition, to cultivate it into a brand like the Michelin Guide, the '2026 K-SUUL AWARDS BEST' label will be granted, and award histories by year will be systematically managed.

Seo Cheol-ho, head of the Excise Tax Division at the National Tax Service, stated, "Through the 2026 K-SUUL AWARDS, we plan to continuously discover and nurture outstanding small and medium-sized enterprise liquors from each region, and continue our support for strengthening export competitiveness and globalizing K-SUUL through win-win cooperation between large and small-to-medium enterprises and public-private collaboration."

Nam Seong-hwan

#National Tax Service #Beverage