Humans of Jeju

Choi Jong-ryong is a film director and screenwriter. His feature debut The Melody of Suyeon (Waterdrop) tells the story of children left alone in the world who struggle to protect themselves, and it drew attention by winning two awards at the 2023 Busan International Film Festival. Originally a literature major in creative writing, he spent years writing poetry before discovering filmmaking through an independent film collective. With his short film Journey (2019), he received production support and began his professional career. He later completed his first feature through extensive rehearsals and on-site work with child actors, in collaboration with cinematographer Kang Jong-su, capturing a sense of realism. His films challenge and invert the roles of parent and child, protector and protected, to ask what family truly means. At the heart of his work lies a desire for audiences to act as guardians for children on screen, while shining light on the unseen realities of those left in society’s blind spots. He is currently writing new feature scripts that expand his exploration of family stories, this time delving into the adult world through drama and thriller.

Based in Jeju, she focuses on fireflies as her main subject, capturing the nights of Gotjawal and the island’s forests. Her work conveys the ecology of nature and the life of light. In her exhibitions, she collaborates with local communities and practices responsible presentation. Each year she photographs during the short firefly season, and in the off-season she studies Jeju’s landscapes and habitats. Through her images, she seeks to offer comfort and hope by showing beings that shine on their own in the dark. She is now preparing her 2026 solo exhibition, Breath of Light, Awakening the Forest, with the goal of building a lasting archive of Jeju’s natural heritage.

Pianist Moon Hyojin and bandoneon player Rim Sinai are the musicians leading the ensemble “Mulbit” together. Moon Hyojin is a composer and performer who captures Jeju’s landscapes and history through music, presenting projects that embody the voices of haenyeo and messages of peace. With the Jeju Youth Chorus, she performed the “Peace Requiem” on international stages, and this September she has been invited to the cultural festival in Osnabrück, Germany’s city of peace, where she will present lectures, performances, and an exhibition. Rim Sinai pursues sounds that move the heart through the deep resonance of the bandoneon, expanding beyond tango to collaborations with traditional instruments such as the geomungo. Together, they reinterpret Jeju’s traditional sounds in contemporary ways and share them with the world, creating melodies that merge light and water, just as their name suggests. Their music carries Jeju’s stories while remaining an artistic experiment of respect, harmony, and creative expansion.

She is a planner who views coffee as a language. After years of working in Seoul’s specialty coffee industry and experiencing numerous brands and projects, she settled in Jeju in 2019 and began to explore what it means to create planning that allows people to live together. Seeking ways for Jeju’s small coffee brands to thrive sustainably, she initiated Korea Coffee Week. This event has grown into an experimental platform that shares sentiments and messages, rather than a conventional trade fair. Each year, under themes such as “Coffee Is Blue,” dozens of brands interpret coffee in their own ways and create one exhibition together. She describes planning as “observing values closely and delivering them more clearly.” Today, she runs Cosmos Coffee Company on the first floor of the Jeju Communication & Cooperation Center, where new encounters between coffee and the local community continue to unfold.

A Western painter and migrant haenyeo, she began diving about four years ago in Taeheung 2-ri, a seaside village in Namwon-eup, Seogwipo on the southern coast of Jeju. Her studies in painting took her from Chugye University for the Arts in Seoul to Chelsea College of Arts in London, and in 2021 she graduated from the 7th class of the Beophwan Haenyeo School. The following year, she joined the Taeheung 2-ri fishing village cooperative as an active diver. In 2023, her first solo exhibition in Jeju, How I Accidentally Became a Haenyeo, earned her the nickname “haenyeo artist.” Much of her work is grounded in photographs and records taken underwater, shifting perspective between the surface and the deep. The Commute series captures haenyeo walking across basalt rocks into the sea with their orange floats, or taewak. The Floating Island series reimagines the taewak as both a safe zone and a small cosmos, while the more recent Na Haenyeo series expands the body and breath of haenyeo into images of cosmic navigation.

He runs the channel "Jeju Eddy," sharing stories of Jeju travel and local life with 140,000 subscribers. Born and raised in Busan, he first came to Jeju in 2017 as a public health doctor, which began his connection with the island, and later he naturally decided to settle down here. His main profession is Korean medicine, and after working in local clinics during his military service, he opened his own clinic in 2023. While balancing the very different worlds of medical practice and video production, he continues to capture Jeju's landscapes, food, and daily life through continues to his content. From practical videos such as "Eight Reasons People Give Up Living in guides on local Jeju" to guides on local restaurants and travel courses, he offers information valuable to both residents and visitors. Looking ahead, he plans to keep creating videos that highlight the real charms of Jeju while also expanding into overseas travel content.

Kim Bo ram is a traditional singer who carries Jeju’s folk songs and labor songs into the present with a modern sensibility. She first came to the island in 2006 after graduating from university for a performance project, and in 2013 she settled permanently after marriage. At Seoul Institute of the Arts, she majored in traditional performance arts, studying samulnori, pungmul, and mask dance while internalizing the power of rhythm and beat. During college, a class in Gyeonggi folk songs led her onto the path of singing, and in Jeju she deepenred her practice under the guidance of the late master Go Seong-ok. Her debut at the Jeju Folk Song Contest, where she sang “Nangttabi Sori” and “Cholhong Aegi,” remains an unforgettable stage in her journey. Today she performs pieces like “Cholhong Aegi” on stages, in schools, and on the streets, while also creating new works that carry Jeju’s sound forward.

Youngsook Kim and Nils Clauss are an international couple who have made Jeju their home for the past eight years. Youngsook, a self-taught baker, runs Breadpit, a baking studio specializing in naturally leavened bread, and is also active as an essay writer. Nils Clauss, who studied film in Germany and later learned cinematography in Korea, works as a filmmaker and photographer across a range of projects including films, music videos, commercials, and documentaries. Together, they value raising their children close to nature while maintaining a balance between life and work. Recently, with their two daughters, they completed a 14-day, 280-kilometer walk along the Camino de Santiago, from Porto to Santiago Cathedral. The challenges they faced along the way, as well as the kindness of strangers, became unforgettable memories for the family. They plan to continue pursuing new journeys through daily life and creative work in Jeju.

Karen Stritzinger is a creative technologist and founder of a software company based in North Carolina, USA. Through virtual reality and immersive media, she crafts stories that connect technology with environmental and social themes. In 2020, she adopted two Jindo-mix rescue dogs from Jeju Island—an experience that sparked her interest in the island and its people. Inspired by Jeju’s nature and the ways living beings adapt to climate change, she began developing a game rooted in these ideas and eventually came to the island to conduct research in person. She is currently developing a virtual reality game titled Waves of Jeju: Haenyeo School. To ensure authenticity, she enrolled in the real-life Hansupul Haenyeo School to learn freediving alongside local women divers, and is working with an indie game studio in Seoul to design characters and environments. A portion of the game’s profits will go toward preserving Haenyeo culture and restoring marine ecosystems. Her work is rooted in cultural respect, local connection, and hope for the future. She walks the line between tradition and technology, using both as tools to tell stories that matter.

Kim Hyung-jun began his career as an advertising designer in Seoul and became one of Korea’s first-generation web designers. Drawn to the ocean through freediving, he moved to Jeju with his wife and now works as both the head of the local fisheries association and a haenam, or male sea diver, in Sinsan-ri, Seogwipo. His wife became a haenyeo first, and after helping her at sea, he naturally found his own path in the water. He co-authored the book Merry Haenyeo to share a more joyful and empowered image of sea divers, challenging the common perception of the work as solely harsh and exhausting. He describes diving as a form of moving meditation, where solitude and encounters with marine life bring deep reflection. Outside the sea, he continues to work as a designer, speaker, guesthouse operator, and photographer. Although settling into village life as an outsider had its difficulties, he has gradually become a trusted part of the community. His dream is to share haenyeo culture with the world and build a global brand that honors their spirit and legacy.

Saramson Community is a cultural and arts planning organization based in Samdo-dong, Jeju City. It discovers local content from Jeju’s villages and transforms it into festivals, performances, and artistic programs. Sunyoung Hong founded the company in 2020 and has continued to lead projects that bring vitality to daily life through art created together with village residents. In particular, in Dwitgae Village of Bukchon-ri, she directed an outdoor play titled Dwitgae Halmaeng Dances, which portrayed the lives of haenyeo and featured actual villagers as performers. The performance was rooted in an archiving process that recorded the haenyeo’s words, gestures, and memories tied to the village. Hong approaches the village not as a backdrop but as the subject itself, exploring the connections between individual lives and artistic expression. She is currently working on a new performance centered around the old nettle trees in Bukchon, collecting memories and stories that local residents associate with the trees. The name “Saramson,” meaning “the hands of people,” reflects her belief in creation, connection, and hope within a community.

Three musicians active in Jeju's classical music scene come together on one stage. They are connected through Jeju Doremi, a collective of classical artists, and have each developed their work by engaging with both music and the local community. Eunhye Ji produces original musicals in Seogwipo and works closely with child performers. Jungwon Choi, a cellist and artistic director, leads youth orchestras and cultural programs. Taeyoung Kang is a violist and the director of Claude Art Hall, where he focuses on creating performance spaces that support musicians. This concert marks the trio’s first collaboration as a chamber group. The atmosphere of summer and their musical experience are reflected in the program they present. The nature of Jeju, its audiences, and artistic exchanges have influenced the way they interpret and perform music. This performance offers a chance to experience classical music in a direct and engaging way.

Based in Gosan-ri, Hangyeong-myeon, Jeju, photographer Hong Lin runs the "Slow Photo Studio," where she cherishes the kind of slowness photography can bring to a fast-moving life. She takes portraits of travelers and sends them by post, offering a moment of memory that returns just as it begins to fade. Originally trained in science and engineering, she settled in Jeju by following a path shaped by islands and images. Under the name "Siot Project," she has documented stories of islands, people, and love through writing, exhibitions, and letters. Together with her artist husband, she once held a family exhibition celebrating the birth of their first child. Since becoming a parent, she has continued to expand her creative and curatorial work. Recently, she opened a small gallery where she curates exhibitions, and she’s currently working on a long-term project of photographing and documenting her life with her child. Hong believes that with time, personal memories can become archives—and that they can eventually reach others. Through photography, she continues to make that belief visible.

Inho Baek is a young farmer in his sixth year of living and working on Jeju Island, after leaving behind a decade-long career in fashion marketing. His journey began with the Camino de Santiago and a year of traveling the world, eventually leading him to settle down in Jeju after helping a friend with their farm. He now runs a brand called Just Jeju, introducing seasonal produce and value-added goods made from local ingredients. From the start, he naturally embraced eco-friendly farming, learning its challenges and values through hands-on experience. Drawing from his background in marketing, he treats farm products like a brand—thoughtfully packaged, intentionally designed. His collaborations, like turning carrot greens into pesto, aim to give new life to what might otherwise be wasted. Daily walks with his dog and weekly runs with a local crew have become essential rhythms in his life. With a mindset of “accept what you can’t control, and do your best with what you can,” he continues farming with steady joy. His goal is to keep growing his brand into his seventies, while carving out one free month a year to rest, reflect, or explore something new.

Kim Hyang-ok is a designated holder of Jeju Nongyo (농요, Nongyo: traditional work songs), Intangible Cultural Asset No. 16 of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province. Jeju Nongyo refers to the songs traditionally sung by women while farming, weeding, and pounding grain—songs that reflect the rhythm of communal labor and the everyday life of Jeju. Kim was trained for nearly 30 years by her mother, the late master singer Lee Myung-sook, who won the top prize at the National Folk Song Contest in 1993. Today, Kim continues her work as both performer and educator through the Jeju Nongyo Preservation Society and promotes Jeju’s traditional sound on both domestic and international stages. Her granddaughter, Kim Nayeon, began learning these songs as a child while accompanying her grandmother to performances. Early exposure to the Jeju dialect and work songs helped her naturally grow into a new-generation bearer of the tradition. The two now perform together on stage, representing three generations of Jeju's oral heritage—a family line that embodies not just personal tradition, but the collective memory and cultural identity of the island.

Miseung Kang, an illustrator and content director, and Hervé Gaillard, a French-born photographer, first met while traveling along the Silk Road in a border town in Kyrgyzstan. Since then, they have traveled together across Europe, Asia, and South America, creating their own rhythm of living—over one year of travel followed by two years of work. Jeju is the first place they chose to settle down together, becoming a base for both creative work and rest. In Jeju, Kang began to focus more seriously on her illustration work, leading to exhibitions such as “Voyages et Visages,” while Gaillard initiated and nurtured a French community, fostering local exchange. The couple documents their travels through photography, text, and drawings, and their recent stay in Indonesia continues to inspire ideas for future publications and content. They are currently in Jeju due to health-related reasons but plan to resume their journey to Papua New Guinea and Oceania once fully recovered.

Charles is a proud Canadian who settled in Korea in 2006 after visiting his sister, and spent over a decade living in Ulsan before falling in love with Jeju. Now the owner of “Canada Samchoon,” he runs a cozy and character-filled restaurant that he built mostly by himself. Featuring a warm wood stove and unique teak flooring, the space reflects his hands-on approach and personal taste. His menu combines favorites from both cultures—lobster from Canada and rose tteokbokki from Korea—along with playful dishes like pineapple kimchi and maple pork. Having appeared on My Neighbor Charles and a KBS Jeju documentary, he has shared his Jeju life with a wider audience and calls the island his second home. Looking ahead, he hopes to expand Canada Samchoon beyond Jeju and into other parts of Korea.

Lee Kyung-ah started Earth Fountain in Jeju in 2019. Earth Fountain is a campaign where ordinary people—children, housewives, and office workers—come together to find and practice simple ways to care for the environment. Today, more than 90 cafés and restaurants across Jeju participate as refill stations where anyone with a tumbler can get free drinking water. The campaign has grown to include a refill map, walking tours, plogging, street performances, and campaign songs. Lee says, “It’s not just about water—it’s about how we live.” Earth Fountain is a network of people who want to take care of the Earth in ways that are easy, joyful, and shared. Living close to nature with her two cats, Lee continues to explore what it means to care for the planet with kindness and creativity.

Danpyunsun is an artist who blends elements of folk, indie rock, and traditional rhythms to craft a distinct musical world. Moving between solo work, the band ‘Danpyunsun and the Sailors,’ and now ‘Danpyunsun Moments,’ he has continued to explore the fluidity of life through music. In 2024, his album Long Live Music won both Album of the Year and Best Modern Rock Album at the Korean Music Awards. He also runs the indie label ‘Osoriworks,’ nurturing a small, loosely connected creative community. His music often begins with the senses, yet reflects the deep link between the personal and the social. Danpyunsun makes music in the flow of everyday life, living each day with sincerity.

Soohyun Park is a dancer based in Jeju, also working as an educator, cultural arts planner, and director of the Jeju Theater Social Cooperative. She began with traditional Korean dance at a young age and toured internationally, later expanding her practice through collaborations across theater, music, and media arts. Since moving to Jeju, she has focused on creating performances that intertwine Jeju’s mythology, history, and everyday life. Her latest project, a mono dance theatre titled Camellia Flower You, explores the solo nature of Korean traditional dance, merging narrative, live music, and visual art. Park believes cross-genre collaboration has deepened her understanding of dance and enriched her artistic expression. For her, art is a way of living fully—connecting with others, learning from diverse experiences, and transforming the personal into the universal. She encourages young artists in Jeju to trust their direction, persist through challenges, and never give up on their art, believing that such perseverance leads to moments of beauty and unexpected miracles.