Seoul: Makers of soju, South Korea's national drink and one of the world's best selling spirits, are jumping into the fight on the largest outbreak of coronavirus outside China by sharing their stockpiles of alcohol with makers of sanitisers.

Disinfectants, such as hand sanitisers, are flying off the shelves, along with medical-grade masks, as infections in South Korea have surged past 5000 in just over a month since its first patient was diagnosed.

South Korean soju makers have responded to soaring ethanol demand for sanitisers by donating the alcohol that goes into the drink, a distilled spirit with 17 per cent to 20 per cent alcohol by volume traditionally based on rice, but now often wheat or potatoes.

"Ethanol demand for disinfection has grown while supply is limited...we have decided to provide it," an official of Daesun Distilling, based in the southeastern city of Busan.