North Korea has created a hangover-free liquor that is between 30 and 40 per cent alcohol but leaves you clear-headed in the morning, state media says.

The Pyongyang Times said the drink, Koryo Liquor, used a cunning combination of six-year-old, top quality ginseng and “scorched glutinous rice”.

The resulting tipple is a subtle blend of sweet and savoury that is “highly appreciated by experts and lovers as it is suave and causes no hangover”.

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According to the state newspaper, the new alcohol “exudes national flavour” and has been registered as a “national scientific and technological hit”.

The brew has already been garlanded with prizes, including top spot at last year’s national liquor show, the article added.

North Korean media has a long record of making extraordinary claims of the country’s achievements in a variety of fields, from medicine to sport and farming.

Last year, the North’s official KCNA news agency said scientists had developed a drug, with ginseng again a major component, that could cure AIDS, Ebola and MERS.