Working women fuel demand for lighter booze

Jeon Seo-jin, 25, finds traditional soju, the clear grain-based liquor popular in South Korea, too strong.

Instead, to wind down after work as a sales team trainer at a cosmetics company in Seoul, she joins her friends for a glass of the fruit-flavored, lower-alcohol soju that Korean spirits companies began rolling out this year.

"It gives you time to enjoy the taste and talk with friends - unlike regular soju, which is too strong," said Jeon as she shared a drink with a female colleague at Kodachaya, a central Seoul bar popular with the young after-work crowd.