Jeju Haenyeo have been playing a crucial role in Jeju economy for a long time. However, the number of Jeju Haenye has decreased since the 1970s, despite the efforts from the government and Jeju Provincial Office including a variety of welfare and benefits. In order to understand the unique culture of Jeju Haenyeo, and to provide a good program to help transfer their muljil skills, a qualitative research including in-depth interviews and participant observation in combination of an ethnographic method was performed. For the qualitative research, the interview preparation was reviewed, the language and culture of local communities were understood, and the location of the researcher was determined. Then, the following procedures were carried out; selecting informants, gaining their confidence, forming a rapport with them, and collecting data. For a preliminary survey, The first author visited Jeju alone for 10 days from late June to early July in 2015. The first author walked around the area and observed the dialects and life of local people from the viewpoint of an outsider. For interviews, four still active and three former Jeju Haenyeo were selected from skilled workers with diving experience of at least 20 to 60 years. The transfer of Jeju Haenyeo’s muljil skills, and their education and training vary, depending on the community culture of each village. As a result, the transfer of Jeju Haenyeo’s muljil skills is carried out not just at the level of maternal succession, but it is also performed by the village community that participate in co-childcare and joint training of diving skills.

The Haenyeo are people who do underwater collection activity called mulgil. Stress levels associated with diving can lead them even to death. In order to assess Haenyeo’s occupational stress, stress factors regarding fear, panic and danger at sea were extracted. Based on the stress factors, Haenyeo’s labor songs, which are representative examples, were analyzed, and categorized into 4 steps according to stress intensity. Stress Step 1 is death, Step 2 is a warning against death (due to desire), Step 3 is a stage of recognizing danger, and Step 4 is a joy from financial reward. The labor songs empathized a warning to not forget death and an alert that anyone could lose their mind, exceeding the diving limit if treasures were in front of them. Monetary compensation can also be a way of overcoming stress although they recognized that their bodies are broken due to very hard and dangerous work. Therefore, ways of overcoming the Haenyeo’s occupational stress were education and training using the labor songs. The Haenyeo’s labor songs that the junior Haenyeo learned by the elder Haenyeo provide the best way to overcome occupational stress. This type of indoctrinating education based on the labor songs suggests the importance of precious life, economic reward and success that suit individual situations. Also, it is an opportunity to improve the quality of life, of marine life through the training that helps overcome the occupational stress.