BTS‘s V has a new title: global face of Korea’s signature soju. Jinro has officially named him its first global ambassador, putting a BTS member at the center of the world’s top selling spirits brand.
Announced on July 3 in Korea, July 2 in US time, the deal is part of HiteJinro’s plan to “popularize” Jinro worldwide. For ARMY and casual K-pop fans, it signals Korean drinks following K-pop into the global mainstream.
BTS V becomes Jinro’s first global ambassador
HiteJinro said it chose V as Jinro’s official global ambassador because he fits the brand’s image. A company official called him “the person who can best represent the brand values and emotions that Jinro pursues” and highlighted his worldwide recognition and huge fan base.
- Korea’s representative soju and the world’s No.1 soju brand.
- World’s best selling spirits brand for 25 straight years, with 94.5 million nine liter cases sold last year.
- Exported to 91 countries worldwide.
HiteJinro framed V’s appointment as a global brand expansion move, promising “various marketing campaigns and brand activities” with him in Korea and overseas. The goal is to create more touchpoints with consumers and push K-soju beyond K-drama scenes into everyday culture worldwide.
Why V is Jinro’s perfect K-pop face
The choice of V is not just about BTS name recognition. In a Picnic fan vote run with Korea JoongAng Daily, he ranked first as the K-pop artist fans most want to see in pictorials and magazines, earning 598,184 votes and the “visual master” nickname for his impact.
Picnic noted that his shoots routinely sell out featured products and generate online buzz. For Jinro, pairing that visual power with the playful green bottle and toad mascot is a direct line to trend focused drinkers in their twenties and thirties.
The partnership also marks a shift in soju advertising, which long favored female models in a male skewing market. With soju sales outside Korea up 9 percent in 2025 and Jinro exported to 91 countries, Korean media already describe V as the global face of K-soju as ARMY reacts to his first Jinro teasers online.
Korean soju edges into the US mainstream
For US readers who mostly spot Jinro at Korean barbecue spots or Asian supermarkets, this move underlines how big that green bottle already is. Soju is a clear distilled spirit, lower in alcohol than many hard liquors but stronger than beer, typically shared in small glasses with food or in simple cocktails.
Jinro has sold over 2.6 billion bottles in Korea since 2019, roughly 12 bottles every second, and it moved 94.5 million nine liter cases globally last year while keeping the title of world’s best selling spirits brand for 25 consecutive years. With HiteJinro promising diverse new campaigns starring V on its global channels, K-pop fans in the US can expect Jinro and K-soju to feel even more woven into everyday pop culture.