[Sydney 2000]Suh : second-generation Korean-Japanese translator for Asahi Shimbun

While the Sydney Olympic Games are scheduled to begin on September 15, reporters from around the world already have reached top speed in their zeal to cover the games.

Japan's vernacular Asahi Shimbun, a cooperative partner with this vernacular Dong-A Ilbo, has sent a 23-member news team including reporters, translators and administrators to Sydney and is busily transmitting back home the flood of news from around the city.

Among them, second-generation Korean-Japanese translator Suh Chung-Hyang, in charge of translating the Korean language, has a special interest for the games. The Japanese reporters and Suh who are waiting to cover the inter-Korean teams' joint march. Suh is herself a member of the families separated by the division of the Korean peninsula. Her aunt, who had been a student in Japan, was never seen again after boarding a ship headed for North Korea.

"My aunt is in Pyongyang,¡± Suh said. ¡°Although we did communicate several times, we cannot meet. I would like to see her before she passes away."

Perhaps that explains her greater interest and zeal in covering the news concerning the inter-Korean issues. She can often be seen going between the Korean reporters, athletes and the entourage for any information concerning the two Koreas.

Suh has been a translator for the Asahi Shimbun for the past seven years. She is a professional translator with a resume that includes work at Japan TV and Mainichi Newspaper. An opportunity to work as a translator in 1987 as a senior in university for the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games was the start of a long career path. Being a specialist in sports-oriented translation, she is quite familiar with the Korean athletes and athletics. She has demonstrated her people skill as she developed personal ties with various members of the Korean team, who call her "unni" or "nuna", a very personal term meaning "big sister."

Joo Sung-Won swon@donga.com