Korean Soy Sauce Types: What 진간장, 국간장 and 양조간장 Mean on the Bottle

Korean recipes ask for different soy sauces, and Korean bottles name them in two ways: a familiar name on the front, such as 진간장 or 국간장, and a legal food type in the small print. The food type tells you how the sauce was made.

The five types on the label

진간장 and 국간장 are names, not types

There’s no legal type called 진간장 or 국간장.[1][3] A bottle named 진간장 can be brewed or blended. Sempio’s 진간장 금F3 (Jin Gold F3), for example, is typed 혼합간장, blended soy sauce.[5][4] Bottles named 국간장 (soup soy sauce) are often 한식간장, but not always, and Sempio sells a regular 국간장 and a separate 한식국간장.[3][6][7]

Which one for what

• 국간장 (soup soy sauce): clear soups such as seaweed soup, and seasoning vegetable side dishes (namul).[3][8][9]
• 진간장: braises and stir-fries, such as jangjorim and japchae.[3][10][11]
• 양조간장 (brewed): dishes where the soy flavor matters, such as dipping sauces, used raw or lightly heated.[3]

In 2025 Korea’s food safety ministry floated a draft to merge 한식간장 and 양조간장 into one “fermented soy sauce” type. The Food Code we read in October 2026 still lists the five types above, so labels may change.[12][2][1]

Label facts

We couldn’t find sodium figures for US bottles, so we don’t list them.

Korean words on this pack

Tap the speaker to hear each word. More in the label words list.

• 간장ganjangsoy sauce
• 진간장jinganjangall-purpose soy sauce (a common name, not a food type)
• 국간장gukganjangsoup soy sauce (a common name)
• 한식간장hansik ganjangKorean traditional soy sauce (a food type)
• 양조간장yangjo ganjangbrewed soy sauce (a food type)
• 산분해간장sanbunhae ganjangacid-hydrolyzed soy sauce (a food type)
• 혼합간장honhap ganjangblended soy sauce (a food type)
• 식품유형sikpum yuhyeongfood type (category)
• 대두daedusoybean
• 밀milwheat