I served in South Korea. Soju is not a weaker vodka; I can assure you of that.
I remember an episode of the lawyer series “The Practice” about something similar — where the client calls his lawyer because he’s been pulled over for DUI and the lawyer tells him to step out of the car and start drinking in view of everyone.
https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=julie&p=81&item=T:56625