Photograph by Mark Parren Taylor. Retrieved from nationalgeographic.com
Born from volcanic fury, Jeju Island in the far south has been compared to Hawaii for its azure waters and popularity with local honeymooners.
But for ordinary islanders, it can be hard to make ends meet on this outpost 50 miles from the mainland. The resourceful capitalise on its natural larder, and for centuries the haenyeo ‘sea women’ have braved riptides harvesting urchins and other shellfish to put food on the table.
When new, less arduous career opportunities arose in the 1980s and 1990s, their numbers dwindled, and the remaining haenyeo are now mostly into their seventies.
But lately, there has been a resurgence of interest in this daunting job.