Why is Korean alcohol so awful?

[Cornfed]

For a nation whose men drink so much it seems very strange that what they are drinking tastes so bad. The national drink is soju, a 20% rice/potato alcohol. This stuff tastes terrible and gives you the runs the next day. Sure you get used to it and it is virtually free, but why not make it taste better? Clearly the idea is that men should get drunk quite often, so why not make it more pleasant for them? Makgeolli (rice wine) is OK tasting, but is really a womans' drink and not the sort of thing you want to get drunk on. Korean beer is swill. I suspect it is not actually brewed, but rather is a mixture of distilled alcohol, beer flavoring and water. There is just no respect for the customer. Even the imported beers seem to be swill when purchased in Korea. There is really no Korean alcoholic drink that doesn't suck. Strange.

[kai1275]

I have never drank any Korean liquor to my knowledge but any hard alcohol from a non-western country is to be examined with scrutiny before drinking it. I can drink many Chinese and Japanese drinks, but even then, sometimes I find a new one that manages to give me a bad hangover or wake up in a funny position in the bed.