Doosan Corporation said on Monday that together with Sunyang Soju and Hallasan Soju it has complained about an advertisement from rival distiller Jinro to the Fair Trade Commission.

Distillers of traditional Korean liquor soju compete in marketing campaigns over additive-free products. Jinro announces in an ad for its Chamisul Fresh (left) that it removed sugar from the product. In a counterattack, Doosan says in an ad (center) that there is no sugar or salt in its products. In an ad (right) Sunyang says that it has never added sugar to its products.

Doosan said it considers Jinro's recent ad misleading to consumers and believes the ad violates fair trade and advertising laws. Since it launched Chamisul Fresh soju with alcohol content of 19.5 percent last month, Jinro has been running an ad that says "Sugar-free gum, sugar-free yogurt and sugar-free soju."

"Even though most soju makers do not add sugar in the manufacturing process, the ad might lead consumers to think other makers except Jinro use sugar to produce soju," Doosan said. "As for Chamisul, it is known that Jinro adds salt in manufacturing process."

The conflict has become so harsh that soju makers have taken to jabbing each other in posters. Doosan has distributed a poster that says its soju is free of sugar as well as salt. Sunyang even mentioned Jinro's product in a poster that says, "Now Chamisul is free of sugar! Linn has never contained sugar."

Jinro said it would let the FTC judge whether its ad violates fair trade laws or not.

(englishnews@chosun.com )