Park Geun-hye gets her own makgeolli

Posted on : 2012-07-27 15:57 KST Modified on : 2012-07-27 15:57 KST
New brand of Korean rice wine uses name and design eerily similar to national politician

By Koo Dae-sun, Daegu correspondent

On July 26, a new brand of makgeolli, or Korean rice wine, was introduced in Daegu, South Gyeongsang province. The remarkable thing about this new drink is its name, which resembles New Frontier Party leader and likely presidential candidate Park Geun-hye. It is officially called ‘Geu-ne [Swing] Makgeolli’.

The makgeolli’s bottle features a woman dressed in Hanbok, Korean traditional clothing, playing on a swing. Besides the swing, there is a gourd, which is a word pronounced ‘Park’ in Korean. When those two pictures are combined, it is pronounced, ‘Park Geu-ne [swing]’.

The makgeolli will be sold in the Daegu area, a traditional conservative stronghold and the hometown of Geun-hye’s father Park Chung-hee. As a lawmaker in the National Assembly, Park represents Dalsung County, which is located near Daegu. Her image is appealing to many residents in the Daegu area.

Twitter users have distributed a picture of Geu-ne Makgeolli, saying “Her hairstyle is the highlight.” They said, the woman in Hanbok reminds them of one of the presidential candidates. Some of them mentioned, “Why did they make this kind of thing? For what?”, “Is it made of carbon dioxide or oxygen?” One of them wrote, “This is ridiculous.”

A man, who identified himself as a resident of Daegu, said, “Geu-ne Makgeolli reminds me of ‘Park Tong [abbreviation for President Park in Korean] Naengmyeon [Korean cold noodles]’ last 1998 in Daegu.”

Professor Cho Kuk of Seoul National University Law School shared the picture on his Facebook but couldn’t finish his line explaining, “Geu-ne Makgeolli, introduced in the Daegu area… What on earth is going on…?”

“The name literally means gue-ne [swing], a traditional Korean game. It’s completely unrelated to Park Geun-hye,” said Lee Jin-wook, 45, manager of distribution for Geu-ne Makgeolli. The new makgeolli is produced in Sae Daegu Brewery, located in Dalsung county of Daegu.

Representative of Sae Daegu Brewery Park Jun-Cheol, 67, said, “Manager Lee suggested the brand name. All we did was produce the Makgeolli- I don‘t know anything about the name.”

A source from the brewery told the Hankyoreh, “It has nothing to do with a certain politician. We merely combined the gourd, a traditional drinking cup, and a folk play, geu-ne [swing].”

Some internet users pointed out that it might be a violation of election law. A source from National Election Commission (NEC) told the Hankyoreh, “If the trademark is registered as part of the marketing campaign, we cannot determine whether it violated the election law or not. We have to see what may happen next.”

“Outwardly, it seems that the package depicts Park Geun-hye, but it doesn’t contain her exact name or photo. It’s difficult to determine if it infringes on the election law or not,” said Lee Won-kyu, head of the Daegu branch of the NEC.

The Daegu branch of the NEC said they will approach the problem cautiously, since the seller made Geu-ne Makgeolli for simple commercial purposes.

 

Translated by Kim Ji-seung, Hankyoreh English intern

   

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