Aahana Swrup
‘The Last of the Sea Women’ is an Apple TV+ documentary that takes the viewers to the coasts of South Korea’s Jeju Island, where a group of elderly women keep the vocational culture of Haenyeos alive. As haenyeos, these women start their training young and make a living from free-diving into the deep sea waters and harvesting fresh seafood. Naturally, their relationship with the ocean remains profound, earning them the title of the guardian of the sea. For the same reason, when plans emerged from a nearby country to dump radioactive water into the ocean, the haenyeo women, including Soon Deok Jang, banded together with other environmental activists to advocate for the ocean’s well-being.
Likewise, Sohee Jin and Jeomgmin Woo, fellow female divers who helm the younger generation of haenyeos, also stood with their community and utilized their platforms to spread awareness. Therefore, after watching these remarkable women share their stories in Sue Kim’s documentary, fans must have developed an interest in their lives.
Soon Deok Jang is Overjoyed to Share the Authentic Stories of the Haenyeos
Soon Deok Jang comes from a long line of women who dedicated their lives to the ocean as haenyeos, supporting their families through the generational profession. Therefore, following in the footsteps of her ancestors, Jang too became a haenyeo at the age of 18. Since then, she has continued to uphold the tradition. Although the diver passed her knowledge and wisdom down to her own daughter, the latter ended up giving up on the profession after a decade and changed careers. Still, Jang has stuck with the work and continues diving into the ocean depths even in her 80s. Today, Jang is one of the most skilled divers in Jeju Island’s Gwideok Village and an active part of the haenyeo community.
Consequently, she was chosen to speak in front of the UN Council in Geneva, Switzerland, as they discussed Japan’s plans to dump Fukushima wastewater into the ocean. In the aftermath, Jang continues to advocate for the ocean, which sustains the lives and livelihoods of her and her community. Sue Kim’s documentary, ‘The Last of the Sea Women,’ has proven to be an effective tool in achieving this goal. As a result, Jang — who maintains an otherwise personal life free of social media accounts — has been a notable addition to the film’s promotion. In September 2024, she, alongside other haenyeos, attended the premiere screening in Toronto, Canada, at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
The experience proved to be incredibly heartwarming for Jang, who was taken aback by the substantial audience’s positive reaction to the film. “She (Jang) hadn’t watched a film inside a theater since before she got married 50 years ago,” Kim told Vogue. “I don’t think she understood that this was the kind of reception and platform she would get.” Furthermore, during red-carpet interviews, the diver expressed her happiness at being able to share the lived reality of haenyeos and their culture with the world.
Sohee Jin Continues Achieving Success in Her 9th Year as a Haenyeo
Unlike many other haenyeos from Jeju Islands and nearby areas, Sohee Jin didn’t initially set out to join the profession from a young age. In fact, she used to be an office worker before she finally quit her job in 2016 and decided to pursue the haenyeo route. Consequently, she began diving and harvesting seafood on Busna’s Geoje Island, a neighboring area to the Jeju Islands, which also sports a haenyeo culture. Early in her career, she crossed paths with Jeomgmin Woo, and the two joined forces as partners in the diving business. They also started a YouTube channel together, where they shared their lives as Modern Haenyeos.
Alongside Woo, Jin makes content about diving, educating their audience about the various nuances of free-diving, seawater foraging, and other specifics about marine wildlife. Furthermore, they also share their experiences as haenyeos, highlighting the profession’s historical significance and how it continues to persist in the modern world. As the duo regularly work at the Gimpo Fishing Field in Geojedo, they cheerfully welcome their fans to drop by for a casual meeting—so long as they’re alerted about it firsthand. They also maintain a close professional relationship with their followers by engaging in direct trade with them through their social media accounts.
Consequently, Jin and Woo remain two of the most recognizable faces of the haenyeo and even collaborated with Photographer/Writer Erin Henderson for a feature in the 2024-2025 Destination Paradise Magazine. Likewise, the duo also won the Minister of Marine and Fisheries Award in December 2023, with Jin scoring a feature on Cosmopolitan Korea just a few months later in April 2024. Thus, Jin’s journey as a diver unfolds in fascinating ways as she aspires to become the oldest haenyeo one day.
Sohee Jin is Enjoying Marital Bliss Today
As Sohee Jin shares her professional life with her followers on the social media platform, she also frequently updates her fans on her more personal experiences. As such, fans of the female diver will be excited to learn that Jin got married to her long-time partner on November 11, 2022. The couple tied the knot in Bohol, Cebu, Philippines, surrounded only by close friends and family. Since then, Jin’s husband has become a frequent feature across her social media platforms as he accompanies his wife on new adventures—sometimes even joining her during her dives.
In February 2024, Jin and her husband also undertook a vacation trip to Thailand, where they visited Thalabi’s elephant sanctuary and enjoyed Maya Bay from the Koh Phi Phi Leh Islands. The month before that, the diver went on another trip, this time with one of her friends, to Kim Yuzan for a hike in Snowflake Mountain. Thus, the couple—and their dog, Bosom—continue embarking on new adventures throughout life.
Jeomgmin Woo is Thriving as a Haenyeo
Jeomgmin Woo also took an unconventional path to becoming a haenyeo but arrived exactly where she wanted to be at the right time. Woo discovered the profession after her husband lost his job in the mid-2010s. Consequently, she decided to pursue the profession of free diving. Even though she wasn’t a swimmer prior to this decision, Woo has now made a successful name for herself as a Haenyeo in her late 30s. In fact, in 2021, she achieved a significant milestone after scoring a feature as a diver in a Disney advertisement. Today, Woo continues to flourish in her profession, receiving significant public adoration through her social media presence and frequent live TV appearances. She and Jin also recently collaborated with Samsung to promote the Galaxy Watch Ultra.
With their participation in Kim’s documentary, Woo and Jin also forayed into new experiences as they attended the Busan International Film Festival in October, where they met several notable actors from the industry. The same has only served to shine a light on the pair’s growing social media presence. Through her social media accounts, Woo shares various educational videos about seafood, which sometimes even include delicious recipes. Furthermore, she remains active in the Geoje Island marine community and participated in the Geoje Citizen’s Day in early October. When she is away from work, Woo enjoys spending quality time with her husband and three kids—one of whom wants to be a haenyeo like her mother when she grows up.
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