How Drinking Culture is Learned:A Socio-Cultural Learning Ecosystem Perspective on South Korea

Abstract

Alcohol drinking culture occupied a central place in South Korean social life, functioning as a key mechanism for social networking, interpersonal communication, and the maintenance of organizational relationships. Although previous scholars had examined drinking patterns, health consequences, and gender-related changes in alcohol use, relatively little attention had been given to the learning processes through which drinking-related knowledge, values, and practices were acquired, reproduced, and transmitted across social contexts and generations. This article addressed this gap by analyzing the socio-cultural learning ecosystem that shaped drinking behaviors and alcohol-related values in South Korean society. Using a documentary research approach, the study synthesized scholarly articles, research studies, academic reports, and relevant media sources through content analysis within the framework of learning ecosystem theory.

The findings revealed that drinking culture in South Korea was sustained through an interconnected learning ecosystem comprising five principal components: families, peer groups, workplaces, mass media, and the alcohol industry. Individuals acquired drinking practices and the social meanings associated with alcohol consumption through both formal and informal learning processes embedded in everyday social interactions. The family established foundational drinking meanings through ritual practices and observational learning; peer groups reinforced social conformity and belonging; workplace settings institutionalized drinking as organizational culture through practices such as hoesik; mass media, particularly K-dramas, constructed and disseminated positive associations between alcohol and social life; and the alcohol industry transformed soju into a symbol of national identity within the global Korean Wave. Furthermore, shifting gender norms and social changes among younger generations contributed to the ongoing transformation of traditional drinking patterns. The study concluded that drinking culture should be understood not merely as an individual behavioral choice but as the outcome of socially and culturally embedded learning processes operating within a complex, multi-institutional ecosystem.