Jeju: Volcanic Island, Haenyeo Divers, and the Memory of 4·3제주: 화산섬, 해녀, 그리고 4·3의 기억

Jeju is a volcanic island off Korea's southern coast, crowned by Hallasan (1,947 m), the highest peak in South Korea. Everything here traces back to lava: black basalt stone walls, hundreds of small volcanic cones called oreum, and cave systems so pristine that UNESCO listed 'Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes' as a World Natural Heritage site in 2007. The island's isolation bred a culture distinct from the mainland — most famously the haenyeo, women who free-dive without oxygen tanks to harvest shellfish and seaweed. Many are now in their 60s to 80s, and their tradition was inscribed by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016. But Jeju asks visitors to hold two truths at once. In 1948, amid the chaos before and during the division of Korea, an uprising and its brutal suppression — known as the Jeju 4·3 Incident — led to an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 deaths, roughly a tenth of the island's population. For decades it could barely be spoken of; today the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park commemorates the victims with quiet dignity. Knowing this history doesn't darken a Jeju trip — it deepens it, explaining the island's fierce local identity and its dream of being an 'island of peace.'