On the windswept shores of this volcanic island, three women ready themselves for another dive into the cold sea. Lee Bok-soo ...

Often likened to mermaids in media reports and popular culture, South Korea’s famed Haenyeo (“sea women”) spend much of the day underwater, diving without scuba gear to collect abalone, octopus, kelp ...

Follow Korea's oldest free divers on their underwater treasure hunt. The volcanic island of Jeju is a wild paradise sitting just off the coast of the Korean peninsula. It is said to be plentiful in ...

Research on Haenyeo divers from Jeju Island reveals genetic traits linked to low blood pressure and cold tolerance, helping them survive the stresses of free diving. These genetic changes could ...

Amid New York’s ever-globalizing culinary scene, a culture of cross-pollination continues to thrive. The city’s finest barbecue shack sells not just Texas brisket but stellar jerk pork. An ambitious ...

One of the Jeju treasures is the traditional figure of the haenyeo female divers of the island (해녀). For centuries, female divers played a key role in the economy of the island by harvesting shellfish ...

As the number of haenyeo increased, it seemed the Jeju sea just wasn’t big enough. Newspaper and magazine articles during the Japanese colonization of Korea (1910-45), also on display, show that ...

Haenyeo, the female divers indigenous to Korea’s Jeju island, are one step closer to being added to the Unesco’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Ahead of annual meeting of the ...

Women known as haenyeo have been gathering seafood in Korea for hundreds of years—submerging deep underwater without diving equipment or breathing apparatuses to do the muljil, or harvesting. Today, ...