Jung SoonJa

79y,  Daegu

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"I was beaten a lot by my husband.

It was so hard to work as “kkang kkang-e”
So i met my husband and got married in Daegu

to live more comfortably,
But there were more days when I cried.

After my husband died,

It was so hard to raise my children all by myself

Even if it's a small house, it was comfortable for me
And i wanted to live here until I died

Anyway, I raised all the kids here,

but they don't even contact me anymore.

Just want my children to be healthy."

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2021. 05. 24

Walking along a single-story residential area in Pyeongri-dong,
I met Jeong Soon-ja, who was rolling some heavy floorboard with a body that couldn't even straighten her back.

She worked as a **“Kkang kkang-e Ajime” in Busan, and after meeting her husband and moving to Daegu, she bought a small house here in Pyeongri-dong at the age of 42.

Soon-ja, who said she was organizing the house before it was developed, said she was going to clean up and leave even though it was a house that would soon be torn down, cleaned the heavy floorboards, cleaned the affectionate house she wanted to live until the end of her life, and will left somewhere 15 days later.



**Kkang kkang-e Ajime(ma’am)

When a ship enters the dock for repairs, the first task is to remove rust. In the past, women would hang from ropes and use hammers to remove rust. Due to the sound made by the hammering, they were called "Kkang kkang-e." Although it was arduous labor, but women with strong living abilities in Busan took over this work for a living, and these women were known as "Kkang kkang-e Ajime" (Kkang kkang-e Ladies).