By Kim Jae-won





A small amount of diesel was detected in bottles of soju at a restaurant in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, last month, police said Tuesday.

Cheongnam Police Station said that diesel was detected in eight bottles of Chamisul of Hite-Jinro, citing the result of testing by the National Forensic Service.

Police sent a total of 15 Chamisul bottles to the forensic agency last month after a 44-year-old customer surnamed Lee at a restaurant in the city reported that the soju there smelled of gasoline. There were no reports of illness at the restaurant.

"We will report it to the Korea Food and Drug Administration. However, we are not considering seeking arrest warrants for the restaurant owner or the producer because there was no injury to customers," said a police official.

Hite-Jinro ruled out the possibility that the diesel was injected into the soju during production process.

The company said it will give a detailed statement after police announce the results of their investigation.

The owner of the restaurant said that he bought 30 bottles of soju from a wholesaler the day before the incident, and said there had been no problem before.

Hite-Jinro is one of the nation's two biggest liquor companies along with Oriental Brewery.