AP PHOTOS: In their 80s, these South Korean women learned reading and rap

CHILGOK, South Korea (AP) —

Wearing an oversized bucket hat, silver chains and a black Miu Miu shirt, 82-year-old Park Jeom-sun gesticulates, her voice rising and falling with staccato lines about growing chili peppers, cucumbers and eggplants.

Park, nicknamed Suni, was flanked by seven longtime friends who repeated her moves and her lines. Together, they're Suni and the Seven Princesses, South Korea 's latest octogenarian sensation. With an average age of 85, they're probably the oldest rap group in the country.

Born at a time when women were often marginalized in education, Park and her friends were among a group of older adults learning how to read and write the Korean alphabet, hangeul, at a community center in their farming village in South Korea’s rural southeast.

They were having so much fun that they started dabbling with poetry. They began writing and performing rap in summer last year.

Suni and the Seven Princesses enjoy nationwide fame, appearing in commercials and going viral on social media. South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo sent them a congratulatory message last month on their first anniversary, praising their passion for learning.

At a road near their community center in Chilgok on Thursday, Park and her friends were rehearsing for a performance Friday evening in the capital, Seoul, where they were invited to open an event celebrating hangeul heritage.

“Picking chili peppers at the pepper field, picking cucumbers at the cucumber field, picking eggplants at the eggplant field, picking zucchini at the zucchini field!” the group rapped along with Park. "We’re back home now and it feels so good!”

Park said the group usually practices two or three times a week, more if they're preparing for a show.

On Friday, hundreds of people applauded and cheered, and then the group lined up for a photo with South Korean Culture Minister Yu In Chon.

Park talked about the joy of learning to read, saying she can now “go to the bank, ride the bus and go anywhere” she wants without someone helping her.

“During and after the Korean War, I couldn’t study because of the social atmosphere, but I started learning hangeul in 2016,” Park said, referring to the devastating war between North and South Korea from 1950 to 1953. “Being introduced to rap while learning hangeul has made me feel better, and I thought it would help me stay healthy and avoid dementia.”

Kang Hye-eun, Park’s 29-year-old granddaughter and a local healthcare worker who helps older adults, said she was proud to see her grandmother on television and in viral videos.

“It’s amazing that she got to know hangeul like this and has started to rap,” she said.

Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses stand for a photograph with South Korea's Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yu In Chon, after performing at the "Hangeul Week" at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses pose for a photo at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Park Jeom-sun, 82, leader of Suni and the Seven Princesses, adjusts her hat in a mirror during the opening ceremony of the Korean alphabet, "Hangeul Week" at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses, stand after their performance during the opening ceremony of the Korean alphabet, "Hangeul Week" at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses acknowledge applause by the crowd during the opening event celebrating the heritage of the Korean alphabet, called "Hangeul," in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Young rappers bow in respect to members of Suni and the Seven Princesses after their performance during the opening ceremony of the Korean alphabet, "Hangeul Week" at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses perform during the opening ceremony of the Korean alphabet, "Hangeul Week" at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A member of the audience uses a smartphone to film members of Suni and the Seven Princesses performing during the opening ceremony of the Korean alphabet, "Hangeul Week" at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses rehearse for the opening event celebrating the heritage of the Korean alphabet, called "Hangeul," at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Park Jeom-sun, 82, leader of Suni and the Seven Princesses, prepares for the opening of an event celebrating the heritage of the Korean alphabet, called "Hangeul," at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses pose for a photo in Chilgok, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

82-year-old Park Jeom-sun walks with her granddaughter Kang Hye-eun outside their old house in Chilgok, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses rap inside a senior community center in Chilgok, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses exercise at senior community center in Chilgok, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses rest after their lunch at senior community center in Chilgok, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Leader Park Jeom-sun, 82-year-old, center, and other members of Suni and the Seven Princesses eat lunch before their training at senior community center in Chilgok, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Kang Hye-eun makes corrections to some Korean words written by her grandmother Park Jeom-sun, 82, leader of Sunni and the Seven Princesses, at a senior community center in Chilgok, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

This combination image made from eight photographs show members of Suni and the Seven Princesses at a senior community center in Chilgok, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

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WEEKEND COVERAGE

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TOP STORIES

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SPOTLIGHTING VOICES

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MORE NEWS

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INTERNATIONAL BALLOON FIESTA — One of the most photographed events in the world is set to kick off Saturday with a mass ascension of color for the 52nd annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. SENT: 400 words, photos.

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WASHINGTON/POLITICS

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ELECTION 2024-TRUMP — Donald Trump plans to return to the site where a gunman tried to assassinate him in July, setting aside what are now near-constant worries for his physical safety in order to fulfill a promise, “really an obligation,” he says, to the people of Butler, Pennsylvania. By Julie Carr Smyth. SENT: 580 words, photos. Rally at 5 p.m.

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BIDEN-IMMIGRATION — The Biden administration will not extend a two-year program that allows migrants from certain nations into the U.S. if they came by plane with sponsorship. Homeland Security officials said Friday that those at the two-year mark must apply for another type of legal status, depart the country or face deportation. SENT: 280 words, photo.

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NATIONAL

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EXECUTIONS-GOVERNORS — Texas rarely grants clemency for death row inmates, but that’s not stopping a group of bipartisan lawmakers from showing their support for a man scheduled to be executed in October. SENT: 890 words, photos.

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CALIFORNIA-RV-FINE — A California vineyard owner is suing Santa Clara County after officials fined him for allowing his longtime employee to live in an RV on his property for years. SENT: 350 words.

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INTERNATIONAL

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BRAZIL-AMAZON-DROUGHT — Brazil’s geological service says that one of the Amazon River’s main tributaries has dropped to its lowest level in 122 years, reflecting a severe drought that has devastated the Amazon rainforest and other parts of the country. SENT: 290 words, photos, video.

INDIA-MAOIST-REBELS — At least 31 suspected Maoist rebels were killed in a battle with Indian troops in central India. Police said the fighting erupted on Friday when counterinsurgency troops, acting on intelligence, cornered nearly 50 suspected rebels in the Abhujmaad forest area along the border of Narayanpur and Dantewada districts in Chhattisgarh state. SENT: 300 words.

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BUSINESS

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PAPER MILL FINE — Washington state authorities are fining one of the world’s leading paper and pulp companies nearly $650,000 after one of its employees was crushed by a packing machine earlier this year. The penalty comes after 32-year-old Dakota Cline was killed in March while working on a machine at Georgia-Pacific’s paper mill in Camas. SENT: 230 words.

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SPORTS

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Park Jeom-sun, 82, leader of Suni and the Seven Princesses, adjusts her hat in a mirror during the opening ceremony of the Korean alphabet, "Hangeul Week" at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

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Orthodox Jews dance at the tomb of Rabbi Nachman, the great grandson of the founder of Hasidic movement, to mark the Jewish new year in the town of Uman, 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of Ukraine's capital Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

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