Deep dive 'Women of the sea' seek to reclaim the narrative

There is an episode in the Netflix drama When Life Gives You Tangerines where a woman dives into the sea and brings back a catch of abalone, which she says will feed her family.

- By Lisa Bachelor JEJU ISLAND

The woman is a haenyeo or “woman of the sea”. Haenyeo can be traced back to the 17th century and are unique to the island of Jeju in South Korea, where they fish sustainably, diving on a single breath to bring back shellfish and seaweed.

Yet the scene, set in the 1960s, wouldn’t happen today, said Myeonghyo Go, a haenyeo who lives on Jeju. “The seaweeds here are disappearing, and seaweed is the food for abalone. Because we don’t have the seaweeds, we don’t have abalone,” she said.

In her 40s, Myeonghyo represents the new generation of Korea’s traditional divers - most of them now are over 70. Her mission is to change the way the women are seen by the outside world. “I feel uncomfortable when stories about the haenyeo are shared,” she said. “They take everything that is really important out and they only show certain aspects of our lives.”