The following article is the eleventh in a multipart series by Gareth Johnson of Young Pioneer Tours about being a North Korea tour guide. Views expressed in columns are exclusively the author’s own and do not represent those of NK News.

The culture, language and food of North and South Korea have diverged in many ways in the 75-plus years since the division of the peninsula, but they still share much in common — drinking being a case in point.

Koreans as a whole drink a lot of alcohol, regardless of which side of the 38th parallel they reside on.