South Korean research breakthrough

Back in 1953, when South Korea's cities lay in ruins, who knew that five decades or so later, after pumping in billions of dollars in aid and technology transfers, South Korean scientists would be at the forefront of a major breakthrough with repercussions throughout the world?

Well, they are. From bare and phalanxed Fox News:

The dreaded morning-after feeling could be a thing of the past after scientists in South Korea came up with a technique that allows drinkers to avoid a hangover, Sky News reported Thursday.

A team of researchers added extra oxygen to drinks and found that the body was then able to metabolize the booze quicker and eliminate the alcohol quicker — cutting down the after affects.

Healthy humans were given 8 ounce and 12 ounce drinks containing 19.5 percent alcohol by volume — all with different amounts of oxygen added.

The results, documented in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, showed those who consumed the more highly oxygenated drinks recovered more quickly and saw their blood alcohol levels return to normal more speedily.

"Elevated dissolved oxygen concentrations in alcoholic drinks accelerate the metabolism and elimination of alcohol," according to researchers In-hwan Baek, Byung-yo Lee and Kwang-il Kwon of Chungnam National University's College of Pharmacy.

"Thus, enhanced dissolved oxygen concentrations in alcohol may have a role to play in reducing alcohol-related side effects and accidents."

But will it catch on? Maybe not, since the same research indicates that this method reduces the amount of time you're actually drunk. I mean, if you're getting inebriated in order to escape reality, why cut the trip short? (Of course, I say this as a near teetotaler.)

So, get ready for Jinro and other spirits manufacturers to start producing sO2ju™.