Another Take: Can Korean sea women survive climate change?

Every Saturday, we revisit a story from the archives. This originally aired on June 9th, 2023. None of the dates, titles, or other references from that time have been changed. 

Korean “sea women,” or the Haenyeo, have made a living freediving off Jeju Island for centuries. Many of them supported entire families with their harvest and became part of an ancient tradition of female breadwinners in Korea since the 17th century. They played a vital role in the island’s recovery through colonialism and the Cold War. But now, with rising sea temperatures and decreasing harvests, will we see this tradition disappear? 

In this episode: 

Anna Kook, (@annakook), AJ+ Field Reporter

Episode credits:

This episode was updated by Fahrinisa Campana and Joe Plourde. The original production team was Khaled Soltan with Miranda Lin and host Kevin Hirten, in for Malika Bilal

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik. Adam Abou-Gad is our engagement producer.

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

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