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Department of Linguistics

T&I Labour Market in Korea

By Hae Seung, Jung, Yeunju Seo and and Soyeno Chung

1. Introduction

Although the professions of translation and interpretation in Korea have not been very highly recognized, it is true that translators and interpreters have played a significant role as a medium of introducing other cultures to Korea as well as promoting Korean culture overseas. Moreover, the demand for translators and interpreters is constantly rising owing to the trend of globalization and the boost of the economy.

This paper intends to look into the current situation of the Korean translation and interpretation market and provide helpful information to enter into the market. The status of translators and interpreters in Korea will be briefly explained in the first part, followed by descriptions about universities and institutions related to the professions and how to become a translator/interpreter. Lastly, detailed information on the labor market will be dealt with. 

2. The Status of Translators and Interpreters

According to Choi and Lim (2002), there is a big difference in the status of translators and interpreters according to what kind of society they belong to. For example, in such multi-lingual countries as Switzerland and Canada, translators and interpreters are highly recognized. In contrast, in the United States, which is a mono-lingual country, the translators' status is relatively low. Korea is also a mono-lingual country, but translators in Korea have slightly better positions than those in the United States. This is largely because the United States, a superpower, wants to use English in communicating with other countries--the stern reality for a lesser power, which should accept the cultures of advanced countries.

In the case of interpreters in Korea, although they have been relatively well paid and envied their mastery of two languages, their job has been perceived as a simple service to satisfy clients' needs and nothing more than only females may pursue while they are young. Consequently, male interpreters are scarce and the rate of interpreters leaving their vocation is high. Nonetheless, the public is showing a lot of interest in interpretation due to the prevailing idea that mastery of foreign language is crucial in any field of profession. In short, somewhat ironically, interpreters are regarded with envy for their language skills, but they are not considered as a lifetime profession. On the other hand, translation has a much longer history than interpretation but it also has not been regarded as a stable, lifetime career; as a matter of fact, translators have been in worse conditions than interpreters. Moreover, translators are even less respected mainly due to their lower income. In fact, translation fees are too low to maintain good translators in the field.

As described so far, in fact, the professions of translation and interpretation are not stable in Korea, so many translators and interpreters start their careers as in-house translators/interpreters. This trend is likely to affect the whole translation and interpretation market in a positive way because from this experience, they can get opportunities to get used to the rigorous field of translation and interpretation as well as to acquire more knowledge about their profession.

3. Universities and Institutions

3.1 Universities with Translation/Interpreting Courses

There are several universities providing Translation and/or Interpreting courses in Korea. The most dominant and well-known course is offered by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation (GSIT), which is the only Asian educational institution for translation and interpretation that is recognized by AIIC (International Association of Conference Interpreters) (Choi & Lim, 2000). In addition, there are a few more universities with translation and/or interpretation programs including Ehwa University, Sunmun University, Seoul University of Foreign Studies, Handong University, Jeju University, Sungkyunkwan University and Korea University. The number of people who complete these courses is about 200--this includes 50 from Hankuk University, 40 from Ehwa University, 20 from Sunmun University, and 40 from Seoul University of Foreign Studies (Han, 2004).

3.2 Institutions

3.2.1 Korean Society of Conference Interpretation (KSCI)

The KSCI is the most famous T&I institution with public trust in Korea. This institution has facilitated research as well as practice in relation to translation and interpretation. It has three hundred members including two hundred fifty associate members. To become a member, one should not only complete a graduate course of translation and interpretation and, thus, have a Master or Doctorate degree, but also get recommendations from two members of the KSCI. A graduate from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation (GSIT) is automatically acknowledged as a member. The members are eligible to take part in a variety of seminars and symposiums and write an article for the KSCI's journals such as CIT and FORUM (Choi & Lim, 2000).

3.2.2 Korean Society of Translators 

Another well known institution is Korean Society of Translators, which, in 1974, joined FIT (International Federation of Translators) working with UNESCO. As a matter of fact, there is no relationship between KST and UNESCO, as they imply. KST consists of full, associate, honorary, special and group members. The criteria for selecting its members appear to be vague; any foreign language instructors or foreigners living in Korea may become full members. They seem not to attach much importance to the professional knowledge acquired from translation education. Its policy on membership may reflect the prevailing beliefs that anyone who can understand a text in a foreign language can become a translator. In addition, KST has run a translation certification exam. However, it has also revealed some problems; for example, how the exam papers are evaluated and marked is not disclosed (Choi & Lim, 2000). 

4. How to become a translator/interpreter

4.1 How to become a translator

While one can study language or translation in Korea or abroad there is no authorized certification system for translators in Korea. Instead, there are various ways to become a translator; for example, one can major in a foreign language at university or study abroad to achieve mastery of a foreign language. In addition, securing sources of translation job is as important as increasing language competence to translators. Therefore, it is essential that a translator inform everybody he is in business, and apply for work to any company involved in translation through private networks, if possible. In addition, it will be also helpful to join translation association. Furthermore, in order to maintain the business relationships, it is vital he adhere to deadlines and provide additional services, for example, writing some footnotes for the editor (Jung, 2005).

4.2 How to become an interpreter

According to their working areas and degree of competence, interpreters working in Korea are divided into four groups: conference interpreters, escort interpreters, guide interpreters and community interpreters (Choi, 2004).

4.2.1 Conference interpreters

Conference interpreters are regarded as more skillful than any other kind of interpreters because they are competent enough to conduct any kind of interpretation including simultaneous interpretation, consecutive interpretation, whispering interpretation, relay interpretation and tele-interpretation. Unsurprisingly, the profession of conference interpreter is a higher value-added occupation.

There is no accreditation system for conference interpreters in Korea. Thus, to become a conference interpreter, one should graduate from a graduate course of interpreting such as Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation (GSIT). Any university graduates, regardless of their major, are eligible to apply for the course; however, the applicants have to pass the entrance exam to enter the courses, which provide intensive education and hard training for 2 to 3 years.

As an example of Hankuk University, the ratio of successful applicants to the total of applicants is 15:1, which indicates how difficult it is to enter the course. Moreover, among those who majored in conference interpretation, only two or three people can graduate from the course per year, because in order to graduate one should pass the consecutive interpretation, simultaneous interpretation and sight translation exams as well as complete the course.

However, despite the difficulty of completing graduation requirements, the degree does not automatically bring them fame as conference interpreters. They need to learn from their seniors at least for 6 months as assistants to them. Only after being recognized as having enough ability to cope with an unexpected situation and to adapt to a new situation, they are allowed to fill the role of conference interpreter on their own. 

4.2.2 Escort interpreters

Escort interpreting does not require as much expertise as conference interpreting so anyone who has a fair ability to understand and speak English can fulfill the job without receiving professional education. Escort interpreters carry out simple consecutive interpretation without difficulty. However, few of them are competent enough to perform simultaneous or whispering interpretation. In addition, there is no association or institution to protect their rights and impose duty upon them; consequently, they mostly depend on personal networks to get a job and are relatively free from vocational ethics. Escort interpreters are distinguished from conference interpreters who escort the speaker to interpret for the talks. Therefore, there is a big difference in the financial rewards between the two professions.

4.2.3 Guide interpreters

Guide interpreters are required to obtain basic listening and speaking skills to guide tourists. Foreigners might get an impression on Korea through guide interpreters. Hence, they should not only have a good command of English but also much knowledge about Korean history. To become a guide interpreter, one must pass an exam consisting of a listening test, a writing test and an interview. Only guide interpreters are given authorized certificate of qualifications in Korean interpreting market.

4.2.4 Community interpreters

A community interpreter refers to an interpreter who works in such public places as hospitals, police stations and refugee centers. Community interpreters are needed in the process of solving various problems regarding medicine, housing, employment and so forth. There are many community interpreters in the countries with a lot of immigrants including Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada. On the contrary, in Korea, there are only a few; in many cases, they neither have professional education nor devote full-time to community interpreting.

5. Translation and Interpretation Market

5.1 Interpretation Market

There are 2,500 conference interpreters who can provide simultaneous interpretation services in the world, of whom 160 interpreters are working in Korea (Jung, 2005). Interest in interpretation has sharply increased through two important events, i.e. The Seoul Olympic Games in 1998 and the Gulf War in 1991. The Olympic Games provided unparalleled demand for simultaneous interpreters. Similarly, at the time of the Gulf War, the public was frequently exposed to simultaneous interpretation by the networks that telecasted the CNN live news (Choi & Lim, 2002).

However, when Korea had a financial crisis in 1997, there were worries that the demand for interpretation services would seriously decline and it actually decreased from late 1997 to early 1998. However, this phenomenon did not last long; on the contrary, the demand dramatically increased in the area of financial business owing to sharply increasing interpretation jobs related to restructuring as an aftermath of the financial crisis.

It is also noteworthy that Korean interpreting market was in stagnation because of the outbreak of SARS in 2003. This was because people refrained from attending international conferences where people from various countries gather. As of 2004, international conferences were held as many times as before the outbreak of SARS but the demand for project interpretation decreased due to Korea's economic stagnation and a world-wide depression (Choi, 2004).

Notwithstanding, broadcast interpretation has greatly expanded. The main contributors are Korea Broadcast System (KBS) and various cable stations. KBS, although it did not last long, provided English interpretation service for some part of its main news. Recently, there are such cable stations as YTN, which provides 24-hour news and, thus, needs many interpreters in order to get interpretation of news mainly from the United States and Japan. Freelance interpreters, unlike in-house broadcast interpreters, work for special programs such as the funeral of Princess Diana and the inauguration of President George W. Bush (Choi & Lim, 2002).
Hourly rates for interpretation vary depending on its mode and the interpreter's qualification. Consecutive interpretation costs 100,000 to 200,000 Korean Won (AUS$ 125 to AUS$ 250); escort interpretation costs 20,000 to 50,000 Korean Won (AUS$ 25 to AUS$ 63); and simultaneous interpretation costs 200,000 to 390,000 Korean Won (AUS$ 250 to AUS$ 490). On the other hand, a 6-hour workday rate is: consecutive interpretation 300,000 to 700,000 Korean Won (AUS$ 375 to AUS$ 875); escort interpretation 100,000 to 250,000 Korean Won (AUS$ 125 to AUS$ 315); and simultaneous interpretation 400,000 to 700,000 Korean Won (AUS$ 500 to AUS$ 875) (Jung, 2005).

5.2 Translation Market

Translation is done from the language used in the powers of the world in most cases. Therefore, the fact that English is the source language for most translations in many countries indicates that the United States is the superpower of the world--at least, in Korea. In Korea, translations into English account for 80% of the total amount of translation. Moreover, the amount of translation from English is expected to continuously increase thanks to the development and prevalence of the Internet. Nowadays, translation is increasingly requiring teamwork. More and more translators are working as a team, getting assistance on searching and collecting information, and editing. The statistics for the year 2000 shows that translated publications amount to 25% of total publications (Choi, 2004). According to KPA (Korean publishers association) the rate for recent 10 years is as follows (cited in Choi, 2004, p. 218).

Year Rate Year Rate
1994 15.5% 1999 19.6%
1995 15.0% 2000 25.3%
1996 15.0% 2001 28.2%
1997 18.2% 2002 28.9%
1998 17.9% 2003 29.1%

There are approximately 10,000 professional translators in Korea. Among many language pairs, English-Korean is the most demanding and predominant in the market. Major translation companies in Korea are PanTransNet, Sejong Communications, Green Corporation, KBS Media, and Arirang TV Translation and Interpretation Center. The sum of these companies' revenues was more than 180 billion won (AUS$ 22.5 million) in 2001. The biggest translation company is PanTransNet, which mainly focuses on translating professional documents, articles, and books. Sejong Communications concentrates on translating television programs and DVD movies. Green Corporation works closely with Munhwa Broadcasting Company (MBC) and KBS Media is a subsidiary company of the Korea Broadcasting System (KBS). On the other hand, Arirang TV, which televises all of its programs in English, exclusively works with Arirang TV Translation and Interpretation Centre (Lew, 2002).

Since the time when cable TV was first introduced, the general public in Korea have been exposed to a flood of shows and programs from overseas. According to Arirang TV's translation and interpretation centre, as cable TV channels have sharply increased for recent years, translation agencies has taken a lot of orders from the audio-visual area. In addition, most cable TV stations have successfully telecasted programs with Korean subtitles thanks to qualified translation agencies (Lew, 2002).

5.2.1 The market of freelance translators

Translation fees for freelancers are classified into fees for the public sector and private sector. Again, the private sector fees are subcategorized into those for translating audiovisual materials and translating publications. The government gives the outline of translation fees every year. However, basically the fees for independent translation comply with the rating system of the KSCI. The only principle in deciding translation fees suggested by the Korean Administrative Society is that a translation into Korean costs a third of one into a foreign language. However, the problem lies in that this standard is neither concrete nor specific (Choi & Lim, 2000).

Fees for translating audio-visual materials differ according to the type and amount of the work, and the client. However, average fees accepted in the market are as follows. Fees for translating a DVD or video are around 200,000 to 300,000 Korean Won (AUS$ 250 to AUS$ 380); one for cinemas costs 500,000 to 900,000 Korean Won (AUS$ 630 to A$ 1,130). One for TV costs 45,000 to 65,000 Korean Won (AUS$ 57 to AUS$ 82) per ten minutes. Normally, it takes 6 hours for a highly skilled translator and 9 hours for an ordinary translator to translate a movie--a translator can finish one movie a day. Fees for translating Educational resources or publicity booklets are about 70,000 to 100,000 Korean Won (AUS$ 88 to AUS$ 125) per ten minutes (Jung, 2005).

Rates for translation of publications differ according to the size of the publishing company. The translators who work with small-sized publishers are paid according to the amount of work; the usual fees of translation into Korean per page are 30,000 Korean Won (AUS$ 38), and that for translation into English, 50,000 Korean Won (AUS$ 63), including 10,000 Korean Won (AUS$ 12) for proofreading by a native speaker. Such low rates are debasing the quality of publications from these companies. On the other hand, translators who work with larger companies are paid a portion of the book price. The normally accepted rate is 5 to 7 percent. However, these companies work with famous and experienced translators, who are only a few among professional translators. Consequently, the opportunities are limited (Choi & Lim, 2000).

Employment

We can use agencies, associations, internet and personal network to get a job. Personal network like friends, colleagues, or graduates of the same college is the key channel to successful employment. We can market ourselves and gather useful career-related information, sometimes information on unadvertised positions, through personal network. In this case, it should be noted that keeping good relationships with them is as important as expanding personal network. If one of former colleagues speaks ill of us to clients, for example, we can hardly get a job from the clients.

Contacting agencies can also be a useful way to get a job. It is difficult for us to get work directly from clients. Clients usually give translation works to agencies and then the agencies distribute the works to full-time translators and freelancers. If we translate the works provided from agencies, we will be paid 60~80% of the rates offered by clients and the agencies will take 20~40% of the rates as a commission. We may get frequent assignment offers from agencies only if we are proved as qualified and responsible translators.

There are thousands of small or large translation agencies in Korea. With the fierce competition among them, it is expected that only those agencies which are specialized and can meet the demands of the market can survive in this market. I classified these agencies into three types based on their features:

  • First type of agency is that providing translation services for all kinds of written texts, such as professional documents, product manual, business letter, annual report and patent applications. Seoul Translation Service, Prolangs and Transdotcom are included in this type of agencies.
  • Second type of agency is that providing translation services for television programming and other types of media. Green Corporation provides translation services for all programming of MBC, the largest private TV station in Korea. KBS Media undertakes Korea Broadcasting System's translation projects. The Arirang TV Translation and Interpretation Center does all shows and translation projects of Arirang TV, a Korean cable television network that airs its programming in English.
  • Third type of agency is a web-based company providing resume postings for job-seekers and job postings for companies. While job postings cost some money, resume postings are free. In addition to the fact that it is free, it has another advantage that translators can expand client database to abroad by using internet and this type of foreign-based companies. That is, we can market ourselves to clients worldwide through foreign-based web-sites. Bilingualsearch.com is one of these web-sites.
5.2.2 The Market of Salaried Translators

There are broadly two kinds of salaried translators: full-time translators for clients at their place of work and in-house translators for translating agencies. Many translators of both kinds majored in foreign language at university but do not have much experience in translation. Most salaried translators work under contract to the translation companies--or sometimes government organizations--usually on a yearly basis. The contracts are normally renewed so long as there is demand for the job. At the time of renewing the contract, translators enter into negotiations with their employers for improvement of their working conditions including pay raise.
Salaries of in-house translators vary according to the company and translator's qualification. However, as an example, those who graduated from a graduate school of interpretation and translation are usually paid about A$ 38,000 per year at the beginning of their carrier. This is a relatively good reward, but the workload of an In-house translator is always heavy because they should play two roles as a translator and a proof-reader. Thus, they have insufficient time to develop their skills (Choi & Lim, 2000).

Which areas of the translation market are growing in Korea?

Generally, a popular way for translators to have competitiveness and be well paid is to work in the areas that require specialized background knowledge, to name a few, legal, medical, pharmaceutical, computers, or electrical engineering field, or the areas which are high in demand such as localization or web-site translation.

Among these specialized areas, I'll take three most rapidly growing areas, i.e., web-site translation, localization and securities firms as an example. Web-site translation may be included in localization in a sense. In this essay, however, I'll limit the web-site translation to the translation of web-site which is not for product sale, that is, the translation of news or the translation of government's web-sites or associations' web-sites, thereby differentiating it from localization.

As a result of the internet expansion, many readers worldwide can enjoy international news which has been translated into their mother languages on a real-time basis. This type of translation is characterized by time constraint. Mostly, translators must translate news articles in two to three hours, requiring a thorough knowledge of all fields and working experience. Yonhap News Agency is Korea's sole news wire service agency. It provides newspapers, broadcasting firms, major internet portals and other on-line organizations more than 1,000 news articles each day. Government agencies and associations have their own web-sites to introduce their history and objectives and provide relevant news and information. Most of these web-sites provide English services for those who cannot understand Korean. Translation of their web-sites mostly relies on in-house translators, but it varies depending on the conditions of the agencies and associations. Some associations do not have any in-house translators, relying entirely on freelancers.

Localization has become a worldwide trend and localization translation is one of the major growing areas in the translation market today. Localization involves taking a product and making it linguistically and culturally appropriate to the target locale where it will be used and sold. Localization is much more than simple translation, that is, it involves linguistic and cultural considerations. Therefore, localization translators must have knowledge of standards and cultural norms, the needs and expectations of a specific target market as well as relevant language. If translators are well prepared for these growing areas, they might be able to enjoy a variety of opportunities. Korean Translation and Localization is a leading provider of translation and localization services whose headquarters is in Las Vegas.

These days, securities firms are trying to employ professional translators to strengthen their overseas sales. The translators working for securities firms mostly translate Korean research reports into English. With the increase of foreign directors and foreign investments, demand for professional translators and interpreters will continue to increase in this area.

In conclusion, the Korean translation market is emerging as one of the most expanding markets in the world. Many foreign clients are turning their eyes to Korea, and Korea is no more a local market. The conditions of the translation market in Korea are getting better due to the government's efforts to support T&I industry, professional translators' efforts to improve their status, and increase of institutions providing specialized translation trainings. What T&I students have dreamed of is not a dream any more. Now, we have knowledge of how to translate and how to enter translation market. What we have to do now is just make our first step toward this market. There will wait many challenges and opportunities. By coping with these challenges wisely and taking as many opportunities as possible, we might be able to become a professional translator. One we should keep in mind is that it is not others but we who should make the condition of translation market preferable and enhance our status as a professional translator.

6. Conclusion

This essay has explored the translation and interpretation market in Korea. It has provided explanations about the status of Korean translators and interpreters, T&I related universities and institutions, the pathway to become a translator/interpreter, and the market information. In order to efficiently adapt to the T&I market, translators and interpreters need to understand the current market situation as well as enhance their language proficiency. In this sense, I hope that my research will be of help to mitigate T&I students' fear of taking on a new world of profession.

References

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