Humans of Jeju

After majoring in fine arts, she has worked in various art-related fields. While freelancing in design, illustration, and video production, she experienced burnout. To change her environment, she moved to Jeju, a place she had long admired, in December 2023. After obtaining her certification as a cultural arts educator, she began working as an art instructor. She teaches art not only to children but also to seniors in various settings, including schools and welfare centers in Jeju. Additionally, she shares her daily life in Jeju through a series of web cartoons titled "Jeju Life Daily Toon" on social media.

Kim Eun-young conducts research on crops produced in her hometown of Jeju, using the old text , and archives traditional recipes from grandmothers. Drawing on her experience studying at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York, she showcases naturalistic cuisine using Jeju's local ingredients. Currently, she runs the ‘Cossat’ studio in Seonheul village, Jeju, where she engages in food research and education. Additionally, at the ‘Kim Eun-young Tempeh Research Lab,’ she produces ‘Jeju Tempeh.’ ‘Cossat’ means ‘pleasant’ in the Jeju dialect. She is also the author of .

Park Sungwook started taking photographs in college after inheriting his father's film camera. Although he worked at a Swedish IT company in Seoul, he eventually left to pursue his own passion, moving to Jeju Island with his wife. Noticing the lack of cultural spaces in Seogwipo City compared to other areas, he established a place called "Still Negative Club." This space not only develops film and organizes cultural gatherings but also reinterprets and introduces the value of old things from a new perspective. Through the medium of film cameras, which hold timeless value, he engages in various activities.

Kang Mi-Seung started her career as a fashion and feature editor at a magazine. Despite enduring a grueling schedule of leaving work at 2-4 AM and returning by 7 AM, she suddenly felt the urge to escape and embarked on a journey to the unfamiliar lands of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. There, she met a French man, whom she eventually married, and they now live together in Jeju. Having worked as a journalist, writer, editor-in-chief, and art director, she now leverages all her experiences as a creative content creator in Jeju. To breathe life into her work, she often goes on long travels with her photographer husband. After her third art exhibition, featuring her own drawings, she plans to embark on a year-long journey.

Hong Ji-yeon is a textile artist with a focus on traditional Korean fabric wrapping called bojagi. She became interested in the historical use of bojagi and now works as a bojagi artist. She creates eco-friendly fabric products using natural dyes derived from Jeju’s materials. Hong Ji-yeon conducts classes related to natural dyeing and bojagi art, and her products are exhibited and sold through her online store, "Layer of Hug." She aims to promote sustainable wrapping methods and contribute to the protection of Jeju’s nature. In her free time, she engages in activities such as picking up trash and participating in marine clean-up efforts.

Young-sook, who bakes natural fermented bread in Jeju, and Nils, who works as a creator in various fields, live with their two daughters. Young-sook started baking in earnest after her children were born, first selling at Jeju flea markets. She gradually expanded her activities and now runs a baking studio called 'Breadpit', where she teaches various people how to make natural fermented bread.

Nils, who studied film in Germany, learned cinematography at Chung-Ang University's Graduate School of Advanced Imaging Science, Multimedia & Film. Since then, he has worked as a cinematographer, scriptwriter, editor, and colorist in various fields including films, music videos, brand advertisements, brand photography, and art photography.

It's been seven years since Young-sook and Nils came to Jeju. They spend their time balancing life and work while closely watching and supporting their children's growth.

They publish various online content including e-books, podcasts, and newsletters. In Seoul, they both worked as office workers. After getting married, they moved to Jeju, Eun-bi's hometown. For about a year and a half, they ran a vegan restaurant called 'Cheesy Lazy', experimenting with a small business in their own style. Even while running the restaurant, they published content and released booklets as e-books. Through this, they realized they truly wanted to create content, and now they are solely operating the publishing company. They have published an e-book titled "Starting a Restaurant Small Enough Not to Fail". They also organize various gatherings such as retrospective meetings, creative mornings, and meetings for people with questions.

An Hyunmi has worked as a screenwriter for over 30 years, creating various programs and expanding her role to include documentary writing and directing. She has taught screenplay writing in the Department of Broadcasting and Visual Arts at Halla University and currently serves as an adjunct professor. In 2022, she received the Gender Equality Cultural Content Award for her work, , which explores the life stories of women in Jeju. Recently, she published , a collection of life stories and folklore shared by Jeju's haenyeo (female divers). Through diverse mediums such as video, books, and audio, she diligently archives the history and culture of Jeju Island.

Lee Sia is the mother of Green and Grim and the CEO of the eco-friendly resource circulation platform company, GreenGrim. From her childhood to the present, she has lived every moment with excitement and passion. Born and raised in Jeju as the youngest of four sisters, she grew up under the influence of her mother, who has been running a flower shop for 50 years. She has always been interested in life forms such as flowers and trees. Next to her mother's flower shop is a café run by her sister, which led her to contemplate the waste issues from the many cafés that open and close. As a result, she discovered PLA, a biodegradable plastic alternative to petroleum-based plastics, and even flew to Shanghai, China, while she was pregnant, driven by the urgency that she had to pursue this mission now or never. A week after her visit, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, and the world began to focus on the problems of disposable products. With her foresight, GreenGrim was founded at the perfect time and has since been transforming café culture across Jeju and Korea.

Jiseul, a founding member and a 3rd-year student, along with Joohyun, a 3rd-year student in her second year of participation, and Junghun, a 1st-year student, are practicing rights-based sharing through the Human Rights Club Ikki. Together with social worker Mr. Kim Minseok from the Dongbu Social Welfare Center as their teacher, the Human Rights Club Ikki is exploring ways to make beaches more accessible and usable for people with mobility challenges through a program supported by a company in 2024. In addition, they are working on introducing Robo Wheelchairs for the elderly in the Pyoseon area and promoting proper awareness for the mobility-challenged. Witnessing the gradual changes in their surroundings and society through these activities, Jiseul has been inspired to become an energy engineer to address the climate crisis, while Joohyun feels that her perspective on the world has broadened. The youngest member, Junghun, feels pride and self-esteem from being able to help others with his abilities. The Human Rights Club Ikki comprises around ten students from Pyoseon High School, who are striving to create a better world, starting from their local area and extending across South Korea.