The Ocean Between Jeju’s Island Natives and Mainland Newcomers

Lee Hwan-jung wavers in his small boat, harpoon in hand. Looking back to shore, black rocks and dark waves sway under a granite sky. On this early February morning on the Jeju coast, cold water sloshes over his shoes. Lee is a self-taught fisherman from Seoul. Still robust at 43, with gray hairs just beginning to sprout, he wonders yet again if he made the right choice moving to South Korea’s largest island. His family seafood restaurant is across the street from where my wife and I now live.