Koreans are expert at fermenting and preserving foods. For instance, kim chi – fermented cabbage – is a local delicacy that is now enjoyed the world over.
But things took a strange turn with Korean rice wine brewed with human feces.
The alternative news outlet Vice first popularized the story of the drink, ttongsul, which they claim is used in traditional medicine to cure everything from back aches to broken bones.
Yet the video, which has been making rounds online, has angered some Koreans who took to the web to denouce the video, according to the website Kotaku.
Korean TV said that the Vice clip was "derogatory."
Many said they'd never heard of the drink. Others raised questions about its existence given that only apparently a few people know how to make it.
Though Vice does point out that: "It's worth pointing out that the average person in modern-day South Korea would have have no clue what Ttongsul is."
In the Vice clip, ttongsul was made to look brown and allegedly smelled awful.
In an important piece of journalism, Japanese media site RocketNews24 claimed they had procured two bottles and the rumors of its odor and nasty color simply weren't true.
That's a relief.
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