South Korea’s rapid modernisation has brought a need for reassurance often found through shamans and their connection with the spirit world. ‘If your son wants to remarry, you go to the shaman to find out if the new marriage will work’Spirit world communicator: shaman Yang Su-bong at her home in Incheon, South Korea, 30 May 2025 Pedro Pardo · AFP · GettyEveryone was sent out of the building. Then five women aged from 30 to 71, all shamans, drove out any spirits or ‘impurity’ with drums, gongs and knives. took place in a village 20km from South Korea’s capital Seoul in 1982. ‘So if your son is divorced and wants to remarry, you go to the shaman to find out if the new marriage will work.