Malala: How South Korea's 'real-life mermaids' made her want to learn to swim

The activist is producing a film about South Korea's real-life mermaids, the haenyeo.

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Forget the fish tails, we mean women capable of holding their breath for minutes on end as they dive under the sea several hundred times a day.

These are the haenyeo divers of South Korea, a community of women from Jeju Island who have been free-diving (without oxygen) to harvest seafood for centuries.

Now, with most of them in their 60s, 70s and 80s, their traditions and way of life are in danger as fewer younger women take up the profession, and with the ocean potentially changing beyond recognition.

It’s these facts that prompted US-Korean film-maker Sue Kim to team up with female education advocate and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafazai to share their story with the world, in their film The Last of the Sea Women.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0r8gze5wv4o

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