'I’d rather earn less and be happy' — story of 30-year-old makgeolli brewer

Han Ji-hye, CEO of Haeil Makgeolli, speaks during an interview with the Hankook Ilbo in Seoul, May 22. In front of her sit bottles of tradional Korean alcohol sold at her store. Korea Times photo by Park Ji-yeon

“By now the rice should be fully steamed.”

Inside the Haeil Makgeolli shop earlier this month in Gwanak District, Seoul, CEO Han Ji-hye opened a small door while wearing sanitary clothing and rubber gloves. Behind the door was a tiny brewing workspace of about 6.6 square meters.

That day’s task was to cool down freshly steamed rice before adding it to a prepared starter mash — a process known as deot-sul, or secondary fermentation. As Han spread the rice across the worktable, she explained:

“If you don’t cool the rice first, the yeast dies from the heat.”

What began as a makgeolli brewing business at age 26 has now entered its fourth year. Han left her company job in 2022 and registered her business that same year. In September of the following year, she rented a space and opened the Haeil Makgeolli shop — a place where she brews, sells and hosts tasting workshops. Recently, she also published a memoir about her startup journey.

How did she make the bold decision to quit her job and open a brewery?

There was no dramatic “destined encounter” with makgeolli, she says. “It was closer to running away.”

“Like most college students, my goal was employment. By the end of my freshman year I had decided on marketing as my career path, completed three internships and finally landed a full-time marketing position. But I couldn’t adapt."

What she struggled with most was the organizational culture. She ended up resigning at the conclusion of her probationary period, just three months after finally landing the full-time job she had worked so hard for.

“When I was working at the company, I was miserable. I felt like there was no dream or hope in life. I would sob all the way home after work."

Ironically, the pain gave her courage. “I thought, ‘If life is going to feel like this anyway, I’d rather do something reckless that I actually want to do.’”

Around that time, she looked into startup support programs and was unexpectedly selected, which became her entry into entrepreneurship.

Han Ji-hye, CEO of Haeil Makgeolli, spreads out steamed rice to cool at the Haeil Makgeolli brewery in Seoul, May 22. Korea Times photo by Park Ji-yeon

Why makgeolli? The answer was surprisingly simple.

She made a list of things she liked, then crossed off the options that required too much money. What remained was makgeolli — a light, sweet alcoholic drink she had always enjoyed.

“I also considered craft beer brewing, a pet hotel and a gelato business, but those seemed too capital-intensive. Makgeolli could be started on a smaller budget, and I liked the idea of brewing a traditional Korean alcohol.”

To Han, the charm of makgeolli is that it is alive.

That day she served two bottles of Haemak Cheong-a, a makgeolli flavored with crushed lemon and thyme. Both bottles used the same base alcohol and ingredients, but one had been aged two months longer than the other.

The difference was striking.

The more mature bottle tasted noticeably richer and deeper, while the younger one felt lighter, fresher and more citrusy.

“Drinking makgeolli feels similar to experiencing live performance art,” she said.

“Just as no stage performance can ever be reproduced exactly the same way, makgeolli changes depending on the weather, temperature and fermentation. Every batch is different because the yeast is alive.”

In that sense, she believes makgeolli resembles life itself: Each moment exists only once and should be fully savored.

“Now I’m genuinely happy. I no longer suffer from the stress that comes with organizational life, and I’m comfortable knowing that I’m responsible for everything myself.

“Of course, financially there are regrets. But rather than making more money while becoming sick from stress and spending it on hospital bills, I think a life where I earn a little less but live happily suits me better.

“My dream is to continue working for a long time — without retirement age limits — in a space small enough for me to handle on my own.”

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.