4.1. From Travellers to Settlers
Those surfers who have settled early as permanent residents at the Yangyang County began surfing sometime during the early 2000s. A set of shared characteristics can be identified among the early migrate surfers. They are all male surfers in their late 30s and 40s with more than 10 years of surfing experience. The group of early settled surfers is said to consist of around 12 or 14 surfers who moved and opened their surf shop businesses along the coastline of Yangyang County from approximately 2008 to the early 2010s. It can be said that most of those early setter surfers were forerunners having led surf shop business development in Yangyang County.
Most of them had made acquaintances with each other through a range of shared surfing experiences during the 2000s—the formation period of surfing communities in South Korea. Some of the early settled Yangyang surfers started surfing at Busan beaches. They also connected with surfing peers to proceed with their weekend surfing through online surfing communities. A particularly significant early surfers’ networking occasion was surfing competitions and events, hosted by Busan and Jeju local surfers, in which they came to know of the existence of a wider surfing community and actually got acquainted with other surfers. It is interesting to note that one of the significant shared experiences among the early pioneer surfers has been overseas surfing trips—particularly Bali, Indonesia—in which they came across or made new acquaintances with Korean surfers. Winter surfing has also been a significant juncture where they were able to practice their surfing skills together with relatively good quality swells and share a sense of togetherness, becoming real surfers. It seems that through those early surfing expeditions, they gradually built up a kind of comradeship.
Another notable characteristic among the Yangyang local surfers is that they have backgrounds in quite serious pursuits of board-sports such as snowboarding, skateboarding, and wakeboarding. In particular, the early settled local surfers used to be avid snowboarders who had shared acquaintances as peer boarders. Some of them were well-known for their high-level snowboarding techniques and careers within the snowboarding community. Their choice to settle in Yangyang seems reasonable because the majority of South Korea’s ski resorts are concentrated in the Gangwon Province. It is estimated, and also pointed out by the Yangyang surfers, that the South Korean surfing population is expected to continuously increase, given the current estimation of a six million snowboarding population and the trend of snowboarders to increasingly adopt a surfing lifestyle. Also for the early settled surfers, their skateboarding experiences were frequently noted from the interview data. They indicated the reverse sequence of surfing development compared to the “Western” society in which surfing is known to have stimulated the beginning and development of other board-sports including skateboarding and snowboarding. This bond of sympathy through board-sport experiences is one characteristic among the Yangyang local surfers that is distinctively different from Busan and Jeju local surfers. With this background, the typical lifestyle pattern of the Yangyang local surfers tends to have a seasonal distinction—they spend winters either mostly engaging in snowboarding at nearby ski resorts, sometimes surfing when swells arrive or taking overseas surfing trips when finances are flexible.
When the early settled surfers first began surfing and quickly became addicted and launched surfing trips every weekend during the 2000s, the idea of becoming a local surfer was not clearly materialized. Rather they were a kind of surf travelers who drove down to Busan beaches or flew to Jeju beaches to learn and practice surfing. However, they were desperately in need of new surfing spots other than the Busan and Jeju breaks where surfing was restricted during the summer beach season, and waves were often inconsistent and fickle.
Particularly the early surfers’ decision to move to Yangyang County was mainly motivated by the travel distance of their weekend surfing trips. Most of them were located within the Seoul Metropolitan area and it took about 10 h of round-trip driving to Busan beaches. They needed new surfing spots which were located close to Seoul. Consequently, many early domestic surfers diligently and desperately pioneered to search for surf breaks along the Gangwon coastline because Busan and Jeju beaches were too far to travel to every weekend.
Although I began first in Busan, the city per se did not cooperate with me… In particular, there was no place for surfers at Busan beaches because there were too many sea bathers… At that time, he [one of the first settled Yangyang surfers] would come from Seoul every week, and he asked me to check Gangwon Province because it was too far and hard to come to Busan.
(LS 06)
Gangwon beaches were favored by the early wave searchers due to the relative proximity to the Seoul Metropolitan area where almost half of the Korean population reside, including themselves. In particular, due to the hosting of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics—PyeongChang County is one of the administrative districts of Gangwon Province close to Yangyang County—the transportation infrastructure has significantly improved and it now takes less than two hours to drive from Seoul to the Yangyang coastline.
As they had discovered the real joy of surfing, their whole life rapidly became centered around surfing. Their decision to move to a place where they could maintain their surfing lifestyle was a natural consequence. They desired to adopt a less mobile lifestyle and get into more permanent and/or structured surroundings for surfing. It was around the year of 2008 that some of those early pioneer surfers moved to Yangyang County to pursue their surfing lifestyle. They settled in Yangyang County by opening a surf shop business without much focus on the growth objectives of strategic entrepreneurship. They settled as new local residents by starting surf shop businesses, and this pattern of migration became gradually popular in the region. The business profile of a typical surf shop focuses on the operation of surfing lesson programs, which tend to be provided along with a composition of surfing-related services such as equipment rentals, accommodations, foods and drinks, club memberships and surf goods and services offered by a kind of combined management of a surf shop/school/lodge/café/club.
The number of surf shops in Yangyang County increased to 16 in 2014 and 41 in 2016. Yangyang County quickly rose to become a surf mecca in South Korea. It is suggested in the interviews that the new inbound early migrants have played a primary role in shaping the whole rural community into a thriving lifestyle tourism site during the recent decade. The County has become the nation’s most popular surf tourism location, primarily being responsible for the recent surfing boom in South Korea. Surfing towns have formed along the Yangyang coastline, and during the summer season, the towns are packed with tourists and visitors who want to enjoy a surfing culture in which surf shops, surf schools and lodges, pubs, bars, cafés, and restaurants provide uniquely different exotic experiences compared to the typical coastline landscape of South Korea. As the recent surfing boom has been spreading rapidly, new surfing locations are also developing along the south and west coasts of the Korean peninsula.
4.2. Becoming Local Villagers
However, the whole settlement process did not occur automatically. As migrant surfers, once they arrive, they must negotiate the formation of new identities as residents within the local communities and the surrounding surf breaks [
23,
27,
32]. For example, migrated surfers had to make efforts dealing with a range of challenges, conflicts, and struggles with the institutional arrangements and cultural traditions of the seaside rural villages. The process of becoming a “local” surfer involved a range of negotiations and contestations with the established cultural and institutional order of the rural beach villages—different from their surfing traveler experiences during the 2000s.
When I first started surfing school, there were many conflicts within the region with various people and interest groups. It’s because the beaches aren’t just for surfers only. There are beach vacationers, public authorities, local villager associations, fishermen unions, and other those living off of the beaches and waters. These people unwelcome surfers. There are ongoing negotiations of becoming members of the community. But that said, if like one day, all of a sudden, there is a rude surfer who acts whatever he or she wants, and then the negotiations go back to square one.
(LS 06)
The Yangyang beach villages have clearly reflected a similar pattern of rural decline found in typical South Korean rural communities, and then the inbound migration of “young” male surfers in their late 30s and 40s, with easily noticeable nonconforming appearances (long hair, extremely tanned, and tattooed), was considered strange and eccentric by native local villagers.
The natives of the village, the elders, were not favorable to the young blokes. Those young guys, gang-like guys, who were coal-black, with long hair… looked like rough-and-tumble amateurs whom they had never seen… went completely crazy when they rode waves, but did not seem like bad guys. It seemed that they inspected us, to find out what we were doing, monitored our every movement.
(LS 03)
It was highlighted in the interviews that elderly villagers viewed migrant surfers to be deviants or potential losers who did nothing worthwhile in cities and ended up moving to rural villages. Obviously, their negative impressions were further aggravated as local villagers perceived surfing as “indolent, wasteful, selfish, and institutionally unanchored pastime” [
33], p. 95. Certainly, these images appear to echo what Booth [
33] describes as the irreverent nature of surfing culture—signifying lack of discipline, self-indulgence, and decadence.
Notwithstanding this initial unwelcoming atmosphere, the newly settled surfers attempted to engage in becoming culturally accepted members of the village community. This was identified as the most significant component of local surfer identity formation. For example, they tried to be polite to the villagers. They paid attention to their language and behavior. They greeted the villagers courteously and tried not to smoke or drink. Also, they kept their manners so they would not be pictured through irreverent or non-conformist images. The deviant impression of surfers was intentionally hidden with hard effort for easier acceptance as conforming migrants. As Beaumont and Brown [
4], p. 64 demonstrate, the local surfers actively engaged in interacting with the native non-surfing local residents and contributed to the construction of a sustainable surfing-friendly local community, in contrast to the conventional views of surfers being nonconformist to traditional social norms [
23,
34] and “living differently and displaying irreverence” [
33], p. 16.
Early settler surfers highlighted that their new surf beach is now their “home” place. This new “home” demanded not only becoming villagers themselves but also being approved by local native villagers. It appears that the fulfillment of such demands was a prerequisite for becoming a local surfer. It is also noted that the process of becoming a local surfer is not simply equivalent to wave riding activities per se, it is rather a quality formed around “an emotional connection to the world that confers to surfers a sense of who they are and how they must live” [
1], p. 239. From this understanding of surfing spatiality, surfers build up their sense of local identity from not only aquatic spaces but also territorial spaces—a “surf-shore assembly” in which surfer identity is forged through a co-constitution with both the terrestrial and the littoral [
1]. As such, becoming a local surfer involves the process of creating a strong degree of belonging and place attachment to the whole geographical space of the beach village.
As a consequence of living in their new home community, they engaged with a range of community activities, projects, and partnerships with local villagers and local authority agencies (local administrations, municipal authorities, and coast guards). They became participants and advocates for their surf-shore territory—in spite of surfers’ ambivalence to organization, they organized beach cleans, community events, and supported young surfers [
1], p. 241. In these ways, as Anderson [
1], p. 242 persuasively pointed out, “surfers’ surf-shore spatiality becomes definitive of local surfing lifestyles—it is not just a place people surf, rather it’s a way people live”.
As we have settled and lived at this unexplored surf location where no one ever surfed… we try our best to get along with local villagers and make efforts to help them understand surfing… and voluntarily do neighborhood and beach cleans… help out and rescue swimmers or novice surfers when in danger… also, try to voluntarily alert and regulate inexperienced surfers… cautiously taking leadership roles in keeping order in line-ups… communicate and work with local authorities and coast guards… this way if we surfers continue to extend our efforts to protect surf breaks, then in 5, 10, 20 years we would become proud of ourselves as local surfers, and other surfers would also acknowledge and respect us as local surfers.
(LS 07)
It is notable that, for those newly settled surfers, the sincere desire to become a village local has naturally formed from the process of becoming a “real local” surfer. In this way, from their perspectives, the idea of “real local” surfer is strongly associated with the extent of community contribution to sustainable surfing.
4.3. Surfers’ Workings for Community
The early settled surfers put forth a multilateral effort into establishing sustainable surfing in their new home. This was done by building their own local surfer community while actively contributing to the wider rural community. They especially endeavored to transform the local native villagers’ prejudice and misconception against surfing into an understanding of surfing’s true value and meaning while, additionally, providing actual opportunity to experience surfing. Their community endeavors paid particular attention to how they interacted with the non-surfing community members and the non-surfing activities within the wider locality they are a part of. Through their interactions with the wider rural community, they acknowledge that they actually contributed to the formation and maintenance of that rural community [
3].
Since community activities have required a range of collective efforts, the early settled surfers formed their own organizations. The Korea Gangwon Surfing Association (KGSA), formed in 2014, is said as one of the most representative local surfer organizations. Although there were more than 40 shops in operation, the number of KGSA members has been kept to less than 20 shops while the membership has been open to all the surf shops in Gangwon Province beaches. The members of the surfer organization share common characteristics—early settled surf shop owners, all male surfers, in their late 30s and 40s, with more than 10 years of surfing experience, also with snowboarding backgrounds, and more importantly, the fact that their relationships were built together during the formation period of Korean surfing culture.
The KGSA carried out the important role of cooperating with local public authorities and law enforcement agencies for settling on a safe and sustainable surfing culture. The first step of that was to make the public officers experience surfing and know what surfing is. For instance:
After the last meeting with the coast guard office, they actively began showing interest in surfing. Last time, a good opportunity was made for the police superintendent, the heads of individual centers, security officers, and coastguard managers to experience [surfing] first-hand.
(LS 02)
The KGSA played an active role through two major contributions regarding surfing. First, it is said that the KGSA played a central role in enhancing legislative and institutional issues that imposed unnecessary municipal regulations on surfing activities in the region. Second, they wanted local public authorities to understand that surfing can actually contribute to making a safe beach. This is because sustainable surfing is closely related to safe beaches. In other words, the institutional or legal regulations would be strengthened if any accident happens from surfing which could possibly lead to the prohibition of surfing. Therefore, local surfers prioritized keeping the local beaches accident-free and safe as one of the most important agendas. To this end, the surfers tried to establish a safe beach culture and become more solid through communication with the local public agencies. For example, in April 2017, the KGSA formed an official partnership agreement with the municipal coast guard office which is the main law enforcement agency of the Water-Related Leisure Activities Safety Act. A primary concern of the agency has been the matter of water safety maintained by regulative provisions and measures. The regulations centered on the reduction of water-related accidents are the agency’s key performance index. One of the KGSA’s proposed partnership projects was the inclusion of surf rescue methods into its search and rescue procedure. By a series of consultations with the KGSA surfers, the agency has come to realize that surf rescue would make search and rescue speedier and predictable. Along with the project, surfing lessons have been also provided to coast guard members and local lifeguards. As they have been working with the law enforcement agency, the KGSA surfers have built up a mutually supportive relationship with the agency, which previously perceived surfers as habitual rule violators who constantly challenged and resisted institutional procedures. The agency is now positively cooperative with surfers’ needs as long as the needs do not exceedingly violate the law and safety measures.
In these ways, the KGSA has operated as a representative body to communicate with village people and local authorities. It is highlighted in the interviews that the KGSA members’ contribution to the Yangyang surfing community has also been beneficial for other surfing shops and related business owners as well as local village residents. The main purpose of the organization has been said to contribute to the desirable and sustainable development of their surfing locales. As a result, the effort of the surfers trying to keep the beaches safe has been recognized, and the KGSA was recognized with a safe award certificate from the local coast guard in 2018.
It is also notable that, for the early settled surfers, the process of pursuing a local surfer identity has also involved a strong sense of responsibility towards the environmental sustainability of places. They consider themselves environmental activists. Local surfers have regularly organized campaigns and community events for beach cleaning. The series of efforts related to the surfers’ beach environment did not simply mean clearing the ocean. They were trying to give the village a bright image by doing community activities for village beautification and decoration such as repairing old buildings, setting up signposts, or creating photo zones at main village roads and areas. The surfers were also trying to inform the rural community about the nature-loving surfing culture in order to enhance the community environment to be more friendly and sustainable for surfing.
The early settled local surfers also put extra efforts to develop intimate relationships with local residents. They constantly paid attention to what the community needs, especially for the community residents, and tried to help. For example, Hyeonnam-myeon—a village in Yangyang County—is a geographically large place with a surf break but has a relatively small population. They had only 49 elementary kids who had nothing to do with themselves after school. As a response to that, the local surfers found a reading club and built a library out of an empty building in the village, providing a space where kids can read and play. As a part of the library project, for example, they held movie-watching events where local villagers and children were invited.
We played the movie “Fisherman’s Son”. We just wanted to spread the message for protecting nature… We invited the parents and kids we met from the library project. They were surprised that surfers were trying to protect the village and love nature. Well, not to blame them, but they thought surfers were just men about town who play sports like golf.
(LS 03)
The local surfers were voluntarily practicing environmental preservation, safety rescue activities, and educational activities in order to form a communal bond with the whole community. It was thought by the local surfers that “such ‘bonds’ are social, cultural, psychological, and emotional in nature, and tie a place and its residents together in a constitutive co-ingredience that builds up over time and becomes part of a local culture and lifestyle” [
1], p. 241.
Through this whole process of community relationships, those early settled surfers came to develop more knowledge and understanding of their wider socio-spatial boundaries. From this perspective, a surfer’s identity is not simply in the sea, but in the surf-shore assemblage [
1]. Consequently, their local status is acknowledged and confirmed by the extent to which they develop and possess in-depth knowledge, and embody know-how and sensible understanding of their surf-shore spatiality within which they have formed a unique surfing subculture [
30,
31,
35].
Through these cumulative experiences of being locals, they came to develop a strong sense of responsibility for the surf-shore ecology they belong to. It is through their longer-term relationships and connectivity to the whole surf-shore community, that local surfers seem to develop a sense of surfing ecology involving “ecological sensibility” and “sustainability-based ethics” [
35].
Surfing is more about being a part of nature, not about using artificial tools or facilities, it needs to be closer or friendlier to nature… And at some point, one tries to protect nature, care about the environment, think about the whole while looking back at oneself… It is magical how one’s mind could love oneself and others and eventually dream about a beautiful life through surfing.
(LS 03)
There are a lot of surfers who relate surfing to life rather than taking it only as a sport. Because it takes up a lot of part in life and makes change through it… Talking about myself, my mind wanting to live with nature and protect my region made me throw away my anonymity of city life. Instead of that, I’ve grown tolerance and thoughtfulness, started contemplating things and reflecting on myself, and cherished the relationship and love with others.
(LS 06)
As such, they clearly demonstrated their felt responsibility for surfing ecology as a crucial qualification of what it means to be a local surfer. However, this sense of environmental stewardship is to be questioned, given the surfing culture’s reliance on the petro-chemical industry (e.g., surfboards, wetsuits, surf wax), and the nature of the surfing boom based on the commercial tourism industry. Since this paradoxical aspect was not clearly identified or mentioned by the local surfers, it seems that they are probably inspired to act out of self-preservation, not necessarily a realization of environmental justice or acutely developed ecological ethics [
36]. This critique can extend to further highlight another contradiction that “polluted leisure confuses any benefits or potential care emerging out of an ecological sensibility” [
37], p. 434.
It is obvious, however, that they expressed a sense of ownership based on their felt responsibility for the surf-shore community. The early settled surfers perceive themselves to have principally contributed to transforming the previously desolate rural beach villages into surfing-friendly communities. As they develop a sense of ownership and entitlement to the surf-shore territory, the whole process also is associated with the construction of “real local” surfer identity. It is also notable that, for those early settled surfers, the process is perceived as a significant way to become “real local” surfers, that is, the process of local surfer identity formation. The question of who is a “real local” appears to be associated with the amount of community engagement—the extent of surfers’ efforts towards making their new home villages desirable and sustainable surfing beaches. As such, becoming a real local surfer is being recognized as a real local villager. This answer sets the boundary of who the “real local” surfers are, which seems to separate the early settler surfers from the late coming migrant surfers, at least, from the perspective of those early settlers.