The native Korean word for "clear wine", malgeun-sul (맑은술), is also used to refer to cheongju.

[4] Another 12th-century Chinese book, Illustrated Account of Goryeo, reports that Korean rice wine that is made with nuruk is deeper in color and has a higher alcohol content; it says that when drinking this wine one gets drunk quickly and sobers up quickly.

[6] During the fermentation process, the rice starch becomes saccharified; the yeast fungi feed on the sugars created by saccharification and produce alcohol.

[9] Southern cities in South Korea such as Masan, Gunsan, and Nonsan are famous for producing good cheongju.

Cheongju is similar to other East Asian rice wine counterparts such as the Chinese mijiu and Japanese sake.