The Sea Women: Jeju Island's Remarkable Matriarchal Community

How Korea's legendary female divers created a unique society that challenges everything we know about ageing, gender roles, and community resilience

On the rugged coastline of Jeju Island, 50 miles off the southern tip of Korea, something extraordinary happens every morning. As dawn breaks over the East China Sea, groups of women in their 60s, 70s, and even 80s slip into black wetsuits and wade into frigid waters that would challenge athletes half their age. These are the haenyeo (literally "sea wom…