A port city on the South Sea, Ulsan played a leading role in South Korea’s economic development after its designation as an industrial clustersite on February 3, 1962. A diverse population hailing from all over Korea currently lives in the city. Leaving Hometown is the story of Sun-taek YANG, a haenyeo (woman diver who collects seafood without underwater equipment) who was born in Jeju, the haenyeo‘s place of origin, and settled in Ulsan afterwards. The memory of this 86-...more

A port city on the South Sea, Ulsan played a leading role in South Korea’s economic development after its designation as an industrial clustersite on February 3, 1962. A diverse population hailing from all over Korea currently lives in the city. Leaving Hometown is the story of Sun-taek YANG, a haenyeo (woman diver who collects seafood without underwater equipment) who was born in Jeju, the haenyeo‘s place of origin, and settled in Ulsan afterwards. The memory of this 86-year-old haenyeo shares what it is like to be an outsider who has experienced Japanese colonialism, Korea’s liberation, the Korean War, and industrialization. Her life has not been about “living,” but about “surviving.”She has to work harder than the locals to survive, and inevitably she has to make great sacrifices. Leaving Hometown uses visual images to concretize the memories of n individual who has suffered alienation and discrimination.less