Koreans are making wine out of children’s poop, and calling it medicine

The “poop wine” mentioned many times in JTBC’s Strong Woman Do Bong-soon is actually a very real liquor made for medical purposes.

In the drama, a gangster called Boss Tak got beat up by Do Bong Soon for causing trouble. Bong Soon’s mom offered him some feces wine to drink up so he could feel better because she felt sorry for her daughter’s actions.

Bong Soon’s mom didn’t tell him what the drink was but Boss Tak gulped it deliciously in one shot, saying how it had an aromatic smell and curiously asked Bong Soon’s mom what it was.


Bong Soon’s mom revealed what the special drink was and that’s when his expressions started to change. Boss Tak began twitching and gagging in disbelief and looked shocked from the revelation.

While most viewers thought that the “feces wine” was just a made-up liquor for laughs, people found out that it’s actually a real thing!

Dr. Lee Chang Soo, a traditional Korean medicine doctor is a specialist in feces wine and revealed many details regarding this wine.

Ttongsul (Korean name for feces wine) is a medical drink that is made from fermented human feces and rice wine that is 9 percent alcohol content.

The doctor described how in the past, many would treat wounds, heal broken bones, and detoxify their body with the feces wine. Dr. Lee Chang Soo said that wine was used to relieve pain faster and offer long-term, overall health benefits.

Dr. Lee Chang Soo also described how the best-used feces are ones from children ages 4-7 as their poop doesn’t smell and even showed the process of making the wine in a documentary produced by media outlet, VICE.

Although feces wine is real, it’s a rare traditional medical drink from the past that barely anyone from this generation has any sort of knowledge about. Not all Koreans know about this wine and only a percent of the population even knows this wine exists.

Take a look at the video below to understand more about the feces wine.

*WARNING: includes graphic images of poop and vomiting*