Eight women from Busan aged over 70 form trot group — Korea Herald

In Busan, South Korea, eight women born between 1950 and 1956 formed the trot group Moon-o-seong Trot Girls and released their debut track, “Story of Moon-o-seong.” The song tells of their experiences of living and working in coastal fishing villages in the eastern part of the city, Korea Herald reports.

A song about five settlements

The name Moon-o-seong combines five settlements in Ilgwang-eup, Gijang County, in eastern Busan: Mundong, Munseo, Munsang, Munjung and Munha. The lyrics of the debut song mention the sea, seaweed and kelp, as well as the joys and hardships of life in fishing villages.

The members took part in writing the lyrics, while the music was composed by Cho Tae-jun. Most of the women have lived in the area all their lives and worked on green onion farms in Gijang. One member, Noh Young-ae, was a haenyeo — a traditional Korean female diver — for about 40 years.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

From poetry to the stage

Initially, the initiative was part of a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries project to revitalize fishing villages. It was conceived as a way to encourage older residents to write poetry. However, organizers noticed that the elderly participants could sing karaoke for five to six hours, after which trot classes were arranged for them. This eventually led to the formation of the group.

In the music video for the debut song, six members in matching black dresses perform synchronized choreography in a format familiar from K-pop. The preparation process for the debut — vocal and dance lessons and album recording — was published on the Instagram account of the Mundong community development project. According to the publication, the organizing committee is also working on a documentary about the story of the Moon-o-seong women, with the group’s path to its debut set to be its central part.