American Kylie Genter Joins Jeju's Haenyeo Diving Community
In short
- Kylie Genter, from the United States, began diving as a haenyeo in January 2024.
- She moved to Jeju in 2016 and enrolled in a diving school in 2018.
- Youngrak village was recruiting younger divers when she took up the work.
Why the Good News Desk likes this one
Haenyeo are women divers who gather abalone and shellfish by hand, a tradition closely tied to Jeju's coastal life. The story shows a village recruiting younger divers and an outsider being accepted into the work. It is a small, specific case of a heritage practice finding new hands.
From The Korea Times
SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island โ For American Kylie Genter, a day at the beach is no longer a day off for sunbathing and swimming. Instead, it is a place where she prays for her safety before diving into the waters to gather abalone and shellfish for living. What others see as a holiday destination has become, to her, a workplace and a landscape of possibilities. Since she began diving as a "haenyo" with fellow women divers in January 2024, the work has changed how she sees the sea. Finding her place Genter arrived in Korea as an English teacher in 2012. She moved to Jeju in 2016. While working as...
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For kids
A woman from America moved to a Korean island called Jeju. She learned to dive for shellfish, like the women who have done it for a very long time. Now she is one of the divers who gather food from the sea. Talk about it: What would you want to learn from people who have done something for a very long time?
