The last dive of the Jeju 'mermaids'

Sea women diving on Jeju Island, South Korea.

The tradition of haenyeo (sea women), female scuba divers on Jeju Island, South Korea, is reaching the edge of survival, according to The Nation Thailand.

Despite international media attention following Netflix's When Life Gives You Oranges and UNESCO recognition, this ancient diving profession still faces harsh realities.

In the context of almost zero successor force, the current divers are mostly elderly women in their sixties.

A generational profession with no successor

At 71, Lee Bok-soo can still hold her breath for 90 seconds while diving into the Korea Strait. But her body bears the scars of more than half a century of living with rough waves and water pressure.

As president of the local hawaiian association, Ms. Lee belongs to the "last generation" of those who still tirelessly go to the sea to find snails and abalone to support their families.

"If I were born again, I would not do this job," the woman said frankly.

Having endured a lifetime of water stress and exhaustion, the sea woman says that if she had the chance to choose again, she would go to school and work in an office.

Ms. Lee Bok-soo, the last generation of haenyeo on Jeju Island.

Ms. Lee started her career at the age of 17-18 because of circumstances that forced her to follow her mother to sea. Thanks to the profession, she raised two children, sent them to university and started families. But the profession also brought on a series of chronic diseases.

The water pressure causes headaches and toothaches for most divers. The heavy lead plates they carry to the depths cause most sea women to suffer from chronic back pain, requiring frequent physical therapy.

In the village, 35 haenyeo (of which only 2 are men) are mostly over 65 years old. The youngest person born and raised in the village is already over 60. The children of the divers, including Mrs. Lee's two daughters, do not want to follow the profession despite the good income.

"I think this profession will disappear. Our generation has no successor," she said sadly.

Heritage on the brink

The turning point came when the Jeju-set drama When Life Gives You Tangerines sparked the curiosity of international tourists and Koreans. Thousands of tourists flocked to the haenyeo village to don diving suits, go underwater with veteran divers, pick seafood themselves and enjoy it on the spot.

Since 2016, UNESCO has also listed "Jeju Haenyeo Culture" on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, to honor the scuba diving skills, environmentally friendly exploitation methods and traditional roles of Jeju women.

The new attention has led to increased government support, covering medical costs and providing each diver with a new wetsuit each year. The investment is considered significant for a profession with many health risks.

Sea women can dive deep without oxygen tanks.

Thanks to that attraction, Ms. Lee's haenyeo village welcomed three new divers, two women and one man in their 40s and 50s. They were the first "outsiders" to come learn the craft after many years without any new arrivals.

But Ms. Lee remained cautious and reserved. She saw one person as having good career potential, but another “probably wouldn’t last long.”

Even with modern equipment, diving still requires extraordinary physical strength, perseverance and pain tolerance far beyond that of ordinary people.

Not thinking about retiring completely, Ms. Lee knows that time is running out. She predicts that she can dive for another 5-10 years, "as long as her body allows."

"I have mixed feelings. This profession is too harsh, but I still hope it will be passed on to the next generation," she confided.

The older sea women still maintain the habit of diving regularly.

The pop culture revival came too late, as the haenyeo's bodies had paid the price of decades of water pressure, and the younger generation was reluctant because of the harshness itself.

While the title brings prestige, it cannot reverse the population crisis that threatens tradition.

As Ms. Lee continues her daily dives into the Korea Strait, she becomes a symbol of a profound paradox. A custodian of cultural heritage who once destroyed her own body, yet cherished it too much to let it disappear.

While the world marvels at the image of the "Jeju mermaids", they are living the last years of an ancient profession where each dive is a face-to-face with reality.

Perhaps, this is the last generation to keep the profession.