'Gyeongbuk Haenyeo Association' Launched in Pohang... Seong Jeong-hee, with 40 Years of 'Muljil' Experience, Appointed as First President

"Leading the Preservation and Promotion of Haenyeo Culture"

The ‘Gyeongsangbuk-do Haenyeo Association,’ established to promote exchange and support among haenyeo in Gyeongbuk and to preserve haenyeo culture, officially launched on the 15th with a founding ceremony held at the ‘Gyeongbuk Neighboring Fishing Village Support Center’ in Guryongpo, Pohang-si, Gyeongbuk.

The Gyeongsangbuk-do Haenyeo Association was formed mainly by haenyeo active in Guryongpo-eup and Homigot-myeon in Pohang-si, and with the addition of haenyeo from Gyeongju-si and Yeongdeok-gun, about 100 haenyeo united to officially launch the association on this day.

At the launch ceremony of the Gyeongbuk Haenyeo Association, Seong Jeong-hee, the inaugural president, is giving a greeting.

The inaugural president was unanimously elected as Seong Jeong-hee, the head of the Guryongpo fishing village cooperative. President Seong Jeong-hee has worked as a haenyeo in Guryongpo for over 40 years, preserving Korea’s unique traditional fishing industry of haenyeo fishing, and has strived to preserve and promote haenyeo culture with pride in the haenyeo identity.

President Seong has actively collaborated with poet Kwon Seon-hee, known as the poet of Guryongpo, haenyeo professional photographer Kim Su-jeong, and haenyeo craft artist Kim Eun-ju, participating in various exhibitions, cultural lectures, and media promotions to raise awareness of haenyeo culture.

The Gyeongsangbuk-do Haenyeo Association plans to collaborate with the Gyeongsangbuk-do Neighboring Fishing Village Support Center to operate a haenyeo school that passes on haenyeo fishing skills to young people, a craft class that makes crafts using by-products from haenyeo fishing activities, and a cooking class where haenyeo prepare dishes using seafood they have caught themselves.

Additionally, they plan to hold various events such as beachcombing, drying seaweed, and marine ecology classes targeting students and family tourists, aiming to transform haenyeo fishing, which has remained a primary industry, into a sixth industrialization.

Kim Jung-kwon, head of the East Coast Regional Headquarters of Gyeongbuk Province, said at the event, “Currently, the number of haenyeo in Gyeongbuk is continuously decreasing, and aging is also severe, making urgent efforts to preserve haenyeo necessary.” He added, “Gyeongbuk Province is working to preserve and revitalize haenyeo through the enactment of ordinances related to the transmission and preservation of haenyeo culture and the establishment of the Neighboring Fishing Village Support Center, and will continue to provide unwavering support for the preservation of haenyeo culture.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.