The culturally iconic “haenyeo,” or female divers, of Jeju Island will most likely be listed as Korea’s next Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO, according to the Cultural Heritage Administration on Monday.

“Currently Korea has 18 Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO listings, so if Jeju’s haenyeo becomes inscribed, then it will give the country its 19th cultural heritage listing,” said the government agency, adding that it is very confident of this happening.

The Cultural Heritage Administration’s confidence stems from the fact that the Evaluation Body of UNESCO, which evaluates all of the cultural heritage nominations, recommended Jeju’s “haenyeo.” 

This year, the body evaluated 37 intangible cultural heritage applications, among which 18 cases were recommended.

UNESCO’s final decision will be made at the 11th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which is scheduled to be held in Addis Abada, Ethiopia from Nov. 26 to Dec. 2. 

Haenyeo, now a dying breed with 2,404 divers as of 2015, has a centuries-long history on the South Korean island of Jeju. Without special diving equipment or oxygen tanks, the divers -- 98 percent of them were listed as over the age of 50 as of 2014 -- dive undersea as deep as 5 to 10 meters to collect various marine products and seafood such as abalone, sea cucumber, seaweed and shells.

A traditional Korean tug-of-war folk game made it to UNESCO’s intangible heritage list last year, along with heritage from three other Asian countries: Cambodia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)