The National Tax Service will use more radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to detect counterfeit liquor from Thursday to include 1,045 bars in Seoul's Gangnam district and 150 liquor wholesalers who deal with them.

The campaign targets a total of 2 million bottles of liquor including Diageo Korea's 12- and 17-year-old Windsor whisky, Pernod Ricard Korea's 12- and 17-year-old Imperial whisky, and Lotte Chilsung Beverages' 12- and 17-year-old Scotch Blue whisky.  

RFID tags can be scanned by connecting the RFID machine to a mobile phone. They contain information about the production, delivery and distribution process. Imported whisky is not part of this scheme as it is impossible to force importers to attach RFID tags to the bottles.

The NTS hopes to block illegal transactions and tax evasion among domestic whisky dealers. It plans to implement the system to the whole of Seoul next year.