The Island of Sea Women

On the island of Jeju­­, South Korea, an old woman sits by the sea where she is sorting seaweed to sell later. Her name is Kim Young-sook, and she is eighty-five years old. As she works, she looks at the other old women doing the same and eyes the tourists who want to take pictures and ask about the female divers, the haenyeo, of the island. A female Korean tourist with a Caucasian husband and two children approaches. She asks the old woman about someone named Mi-ja. The tourist insists that Mi-ja was once a friend of Young-sook’s. The old woman denies knowing Mi-ja and leaves quickly.

Young-sook recalls her first day as a diver in 1938. Her mother is the head of the local diver’s collective, and the girl wants to make her mother proud. Among the diving culture, the men stay home and take care of the children while the women go to sea. Young-sook, her mother, and grandmother meet up with Mi-ja. Young-sook and Mi-ja are both fifteen and will make their debuts as baby divers that day. The group walk to the beach shelter where they plan the day’s diving strategy.

The collective consists of thirty women ranging in age from elderly to teenagers.