Foreigner draws backlash for kissing Jeju haenyeo statue

A foreign man drew widespread criticism online after a video showing him hugging and kissing a statue honoring Jeju’s haenyeo, or female divers, went viral, news reports said Friday.

In the video, the man is seen climbing onto the statue near Hamdeok Beach in Jocheon-eup, Jeju City, and performing lewd acts while his companions look on and laugh.

The man has reportedly lived on Jeju for about a year, while the person who filmed and uploaded the video is a Korean resident of the island, according to JTBC.

READ: Cebu and Jeju as this year’s highlights in Korean-PH cultural expo

The video drew widespread criticism from Jeju residents and supporters of the island’s haenyeo culture.

“There’s no way someone living on Jeju wouldn’t know what the haenyeo mean to the island. They were laughing and even posted the video on social media. I just don’t get it. Treating a haenyeo statue like a joke is just ignorant and rude,” one user wrote.

As criticism mounted, the Korean man who filmed the video apologized on social media, saying he felt “ashamed and embarrassed.” The foreign man said he didn’t realize his actions would be considered offensive.

Jeju haenyeo, which roughly translates to “women of the sea,” are free divers who can hold their breath for long periods as they harvest seafood from the ocean.

They are designated as National Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 132 and Important Fisheries Heritage No. 1, and their culture is inscribed in UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Statues honoring the haenyeo have been installed across the island since the 1990s by local governments, fishing village associations and private organizations, particularly at ports, beaches and coastal villages.

The number of active haenyeo on Jeju stood at 2,371 as of the end of December last year, down 252, or 9.6 percent, from a year earlier, according to the Jeju provincial government.

Divers 70 or older made up nearly two-thirds of the total at 1,500, followed by 766 divers aged 50 to 69 and 105 divers under the age of 50.

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