Here is an excerpt of The Iron Butterfly of the time her family returned to South Korea after spending years in Japan:
"They arrived on the mainland dripping wet, seasick, and scared.
They had lost everything they had brought back home to start a new life.They had no money, no clothes, no utensils, no furniture, nothing. Going back home turned out to be much harder than they had anticipated.
They traveled back to Koje Do and lived with Mom ’s family for a while. Once again, Mom used her diving expertise to bring money home. There were many other haenyo like Mom trying to make a living from harvesting what the sea provided, but this was not a problem. Sea food was abundant in Koje Do; there was plenty for all the people in the village....
Things went well for a while until Dad took a wrong turn with his life. He went back to his old habits. He became demanding and impatient... The situation slowly grew out of hand. Mom felt trapped."