The Korean-style bomb drink that mixes soju and beer, "somaek," appeared on a famous U.S. talk show stage.
Korean American actor Daniel Dae Kim (Korean name Kim Dae-hyun, 58) appeared on NBC's popular talk show The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Feb. 8 (local time) to introduce the Korean drinking culture "somaek."
That day, mentioning the Netflix animated series K-pop Demon Hunters in which he participated as a voice actor, he said, "When I was growing up, being Korean wasn't embraced as cool as it is now," and added, "But now Korean music, drama, food, and the beauty industry have gone beyond a simple fad to become a global cultural phenomenon."
He then personally demonstrated how to make "somaek." After taking off his jacket, he placed chopsticks across a beer glass, set a soju shot glass on top, and then struck the table to drop the soju glass into the beer to make somaek. Host Fallon followed suit and slammed the desk hard, and the two shouted "Geonbae" before emptying their glasses.
Daniel Dae Kim was born in Busan in 1968 and immigrated to the United States as a child. He became well known in Korea through American drama "Lost." More recently, he has been working in Hollywood as an Asian actor and producer, taking the lead in promoting Korean culture.