
Jeju Island will commemorate the 93rd anniversary of the Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement. (Yonhap)
JEJU, Jan. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — Jeju Island will commemorate the 93rd anniversary of the Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement, the largest women-led independence movement in Korea, with a special ceremony on January 12.
The event will honor the courageous haenyeo (female divers) who, in 1932, led mass protests against Japan’s colonial exploitation and ethnic discrimination in the regions of Gujwa, Seongsan, and Udo.
The Jeju provincial government announced on January 8 that over 100 haenyeo will gather at the Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Memorial Tower—a symbolic site marking the second assembly point of the movement—to participate in the commemorative event.
The program will begin with a memorial service, followed by a march retracing key sites of the resistance, involving both haenyeo and local residents.
The official ceremony will feature commemorative speeches, awards for distinguished contributors, and a symbolic reenactment of the haenyeo waving South Korean flags and chanting for independence.
Between June 1931 and January 1932, approximately 17,000 haenyeo organized 238 protests, making it the largest women’s and fisherfolk-led movement during Japan’s occupation. On January 7, 1932, more than 1,000 haenyeo gathered at Sehwa Five-Day Market to protest colonial exploitation, wielding farming tools in defiance—a movement that quickly spread across Jeju Island.
Sehwa Market, still active today, stands in Gujwa-eup and operates on the 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, and 30th of each month. A statue at the market entrance commemorates the haenyeo’s resilience.
Key leaders of the movement, including Bu Chun-hwa, Kim Ok-ryeon, and Bu Deok-ryang, were posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation. However, other pivotal figures, Kim Gye-seok and Go Soon-hyo, were not recognized due to the absence of official imprisonment records.
Efforts to acknowledge these leaders continue, with scholars urging comprehensive research to uncover historical documentation. Kim Tae-min, president of the memorial association, emphasized the need for expert investigation to address these gaps.
Additionally, around 30 young intellectuals associated with the socialist-leaning Jeju Hyukwoo Alliance, who educated haenyeo and fostered national consciousness, were arrested but have yet to be formally recognized.
The Jeju Haenyeo Fishery Association, led by Japanese Governor Taguchi Teiki during colonial rule, exploited haenyeo by purchasing seaweed and abalone at unfairly low prices for Japanese merchants’ benefit. Initial protests began in December 1931, escalating to mass demonstrations by January 1932.
Japanese authorities detained over 100 haenyeo, later releasing them, but leaders like Bu Chun-hwa, Kim Ok-ryeon, and Bu Deok-ryang endured months of imprisonment before release.
Kang Seung-hyang, head of Jeju’s Haenyeo Cultural Heritage Division, expressed pride in the haenyeo’s resilient spirit and encouraged public participation in the commemorative events to honor their enduring legacy.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)