An American diver has drawn attention for working the waters off Jeju as a haenyeo, one of Korea's traditional female free divers. Kylie Genter, 36, from New York, is the only foreigner holding a haenyeo license in Korea this year. Once viewed warily as an unfamiliar outsider, she is now called "daughter" by her fellow divers and moves freely through the sea.
Genter began diving as a haenyeo in Yeongnak-ri, on the western side of Jeju, in January 2024, CNN reported on the 25th. The village initially did not accept her because she was a foreigner, but the divers gradually opened up as Genter went out to dive every day and showed her resolve.
Genter first came to Korea in 2012. Working as an English instructor, she grew interested in haenyeo culture while living on Jeju and learned to dive at a haenyeo school. She began diving in earnest in 2024 after hearing that Yeongnak-ri was recruiting young haenyeo.
When the divers first met her, they found her unfamiliar name hard to pronounce and would call her "the American kid." But Genter earned their trust by taking part in the diving consistently, and Hong Bok-nyeo, 80, the head of the local haenyeo group, began calling her "daughter." Hong said of Genter that she "dives better than us Koreans and Jeju natives."
Genter also described the moment she felt she had become part of the haenyeo community. One day, when Hong was struggling to haul up a net full of conch, she called out Genter's name for help. "It was really amazing that she looked for me when she needed help," Genter said.
CNN noted that the haenyeo are not simply co-workers but a community responsible for one another's safety, and that when they enter the sea together they watch over each other until the diving is done.
Haenyeo Are Aging and Dwindling
The reality facing Jeju's haenyeo is difficult. According to the Haenyeo Museum, 63% of the 2,371 haenyeo active last year were 70 or older, while only 30 were 39 or younger. Falling marine resources are also cutting into the divers' income. As of 2023, the annual income of a Jeju haenyeo was just 6.385 million won.
Climate change is also threatening the divers' livelihoods. The waters off Yeongnak-ri were once so rich in seafood that divers used to catch more than 100 kilograms of sea cucumber a day, but according to Genter, the total sea cucumber catch this year came to just 10.
Chae Ji-ae, 43, a haenyeo of 13 years, told Seoul Economic Daily, "Just 10 years ago there were kelp beds in the sea, but now they have disappeared entirely." She added, "Kelp is food for conch and abalone, so once the kelp went first, the conch naturally disappeared too, and you hardly see any abalone." According to the National Institute of Fisheries Science, the map of Korea's fishing grounds has changed dramatically over the past 50 years. As fish species move northward overall, subtropical species have also been observed appearing off Jeju and in the East Sea.
Hong said, "I find myself asking how much longer I can keep diving, and whether the next generation of haenyeo will be able to dive at all." She added, "I feel sorry for the young haenyeo, because there is nothing left to catch."
When she is not diving, Genter works at a pet hotel she runs with her husband and promotes haenyeo culture through social media and a podcast. "I will live in this village and die in this village," Genter said. "This village gave me such a big opportunity, so I always want to do my best. I don't want to let them down."
