[That person] Reporter, interpreter, broadcaster… Hyun-mo Ahn, 'Boundary Man'

1. <Somehow I became a reporter>

I never thought of becoming a journalist, I never thought of becoming a journalist.

She was offered a job at SBS CNBC in 2009 before graduating from graduate school in interpretation and translation.

She decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to try it for a few months, so she started working.

At first, she was responsible for delivering economic information in English and translating English news into Korean, and later as an anchor and host of news programs.

It was a channel that went abroad as well, but it was more popular overseas than in Korea.

As he became known as a wealthy man who was good at broadcasting and spoke English well, he was invited to apply for a career as a reporter for SBS.

He applied for a job with the thought that he wanted to try a more difficult job.

In the process of being hired as a reporter for his career, there was a controversy within SBS.

Because he had never had an affiliate reporter hired as a head office reporter.

There was also a more fundamental question as to whether this person was a journalist.

Although there was some controversy in the process of his joining, he became a SBS reporter after overcoming a 100-to-1 competition.

It is a title that someone desperately wants, but I sometimes wondered if I could easily become a reporter, or if I was in the place where someone else was supposed to come.

Because of that, he said he was always cautious about telling the story of how he became a reporter.

The 7 years of my life as a journalist, especially the 4 years I spent at SBS, were quite difficult times.

Even more so, as he became a career journalist without enough training to cover and write articles.

It was not easy to adapt to the culture of an exclusive media company that specifically judges origins and backgrounds.

It was an 'organizational culture that was difficult to withstand'.

The task was waking up in the morning, going out on time, coming home well at night, changing clothes, and going to bed.

I was also troubled by the thought that I might be a nuisance to the organization and my colleagues.

It was a luxury to think about one year or five years from now.

"It's too direct a word, but drinking alcohol was hard. It's a little less now, and a lot has changed during the Corona period, but at that time, it was difficult if you didn't like alcohol. When I drink, I get sleepy and I can't remember what I said."

At that time, this person seemed withdrawn, but there were times when I felt the arrogance of not paying much attention to your gaze.

When I asked if those times were difficult, he said that it was a difficult time, but I learned a lot.

He said that his journalistic days had a decisive influence on the formation of his values.

“While doing the news, it became clear to me that the world I belong to was not the whole world. All my friends graduated from four-year colleges and had careers, or they live in a certain area, and you can define it this way. But people who watch the news are like me. I may not have been educated and I may live in a different region, and I have always been conscious of such things. Through my life as a journalist, I met various people and broadened my perspective, so I think that served as a balance in my life. thank you so much"

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In 2015, when I worked in the same department for a year as a manager and a member of the department, I said to this person, 'It will be helpful for you to work as a journalist no matter where you go and what you do later.'

Although it was obvious that he was struggling to fit into the organization, he was not the type of person to bury his bones in the press.

He was a person who would show off his natural talents better if he did something other than a journalist.

I quit the company when I wanted to get used to my job as a journalist to some extent and to have overcome the difficult hurdles.

He said that he felt that he could not grow and develop further in the media.

I felt sorry that I felt like I was the only one getting off the same boat while on the same boat, but I wanted to try something more challenging and difficult.

At the age of his early 30s, he boldly gave up his stable job and the title of a journalist and chose to leave.

There was no place to come and nowhere to go.

2. <Break the shackles and gain wings>

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After quitting being a journalist, he became more famous, busier and earns more money.

She is invisible, but her influence seems to have grown bigger.

He is active as a simultaneous interpreter and broadcaster.

He also translates and writes.

He often appeared on variety shows and shot commercials.

He has been active as a regular host by utilizing his English skills in broadcasting at the Grammy Awards, Academy Awards, and Billboard Awards.

He left a deep impression on the public when he delivered his foreign news in real time during the 2018 North Korea-US summit.

"Actually, many entertainment articles and writers say that I translated the North Korea-US summit at the same time, but I must correct it. The people who interpreted the North Korea-U.S. summit were people in the field, and I translated what was broadcast. Report. It's not like the North Korea-US summit was held. We'll make sure to correct it."

Simultaneous interpretation of broadcasts is something that even veteran simultaneous interpreters do not like because mistakes are immediately revealed.

Since a high level of concentration is required, it is common to interpret in pairs in a closed booth in pairs and take turns.

But this man did it on stage in a large studio with a lot of people watching.

The person who brought simultaneous interpretation of a broadcast that was being conducted in a closed space to the stage is the person who made simultaneous interpretation a kind of stage art.

There are people who can do simultaneous interpretation better than this person, but it is difficult to find someone who can organize and deliver foreign media as well as this person.

"At that time, it was important how foreign media views the North Korea-U.S. summit. However, the problem of simultaneous interpretation is that foreign news is often transferred 1:1, so it is often difficult to understand what this means. It was very satisfying for us to know the context and deliver it. Because there had never been a person who could interpret at the same time like this before, it caught the attention of the viewers.”

Yang Man-hee, Director of the 2018 SBS North America Summit Broadcasting Group

SBS took this person's simultaneous interpretation as a point that differentiated it from other companies and even made a press release.

This strategy was successful.

At the point where this person appeared, the viewership curve soared, and the name 'Ahn Hyun-mo' ranked first in real-time search terms.

Simultaneous interpretation on a broadcast was compared to performing aerial stunts.

It's a dangerous job that can cause you to fall off the line even if you are careless for a moment.

"I think so. At the time, I felt like I was digging my own grave. Just hearing it now makes me feel so difficult, but I wonder why I wanted to do this at the time. But I am surprisingly brave, so I am not afraid to take on challenges. Marriage was easy. I just did it without thinking about a very risky gamble. But as I get older, that courage seems to diminish a little. Especially when it comes to interpreting, expectations for me are so high these days, I'm a little afraid. When I can't devote enough time to the project, I'm buying myself these days because I'm afraid I'll do something wrong."

"A lot of it. But sometimes they order me to do nonsensical stage art. They say no."

He prepares a month for several hours of interpretation, and if he does not have sufficient preparation conditions, he will not go up on even a good stage.

When asked if you were the most famous interpreter, you answered:

“When I go to a certain event, I sometimes use the title of simultaneous interpreter, and I try to correct it every time that happens. I just want to be a broadcaster. People at the event say that an international conference interpreter or simultaneous interpreter is a much nicer title than saying that a broadcaster is a broadcaster. I feel like a broadcaster is a better fit because I work more, and there are people who do more interpreting than me, and there are people who are always interpreting on the spot without a face in the booth, only with their voice. For this reason, I prefer the title of broadcaster. I'm famous because I've been on TV a lot, but it's not like I have a deep career as a simultaneous interpreter."

3. <It wasn't talent, but the environment was good?>

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Born as the youngest daughter in a wealthy family with only three daughters, she grew up relatively smoothly.

Her father, who runs her business, fills the icebox with food on weekends, loads it in her jeep, and goes picnicking with her family.

It's a story about something exotic is drawn.

She remembers her father's hand holding the manual gear to her youngest daughter and holding her hand to operate her gear, she said.

Her mother didn't tell her to do well in her studies, but she emphasized that she should be able to do her own thing and make her own.

Her youngest daughter, who watches the same movie 100 times because she wants to understand her foreign films in the original language, her parents assigned her a native-speaking teacher since she was in elementary school.

"I'm not even a person who is talented in foreign languages. I just liked the educational environment where I could learn a foreign language. If anyone had that kind of environment, I would be able to speak English at that level.

After graduating from Daewon Foreign Language High School, he entered the Department of Linguistics at Seoul National University in 2002.

She remembers college days as a time when only going back and forth between home and school.

Her boyfriend, whom she met then, also hated this guy going to the library.

Because of that, she said she had never been to a MT or a meeting, and had never been to a nightclub.

As an exchange student, she studied at the University of Pennsylvania for one year.

She is not a 100% pure domestic simultaneous interpreter.

2002, when I entered university, was an exceptionally hot year in Korean society due to the World Cup, labor-management fever and presidential election, and candlelight protests to commemorate two girls who were victims of an American armored car.

“To be honest, I think I only knew my personal problems until I graduated from college. I think I thought more about how to cover my face, and I didn’t think deeply about the much larger social cause. I think I worried more about it as I became a reporter. As I became a reporter, I saw such a problem and started thinking about it, and then I reflected on it. Why didn't I think of that until now?"

The invitation to become an announcer or entertainer was heard with one ear and passed out through the other, and she did not respond to the request to go to a beauty pageant.

She took a year off from school to enter a famous design school in the United States, and she went to an art academy.

It was because of the thought that she would somehow make a living if she was an interpreter.

Having four simultaneous interpreters in her household, including her younger sister, also had an impact.

I wanted to travel here and there, see a lot of new things, and learn a lot, but I didn't really want to become something.

When I talked like this, I felt the freedom of a person who was not in a hurry to earn a living.

4. <Envy and jealousy, and illusion and reality>

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I sometimes give lectures to students.

Looking at the video, the students fully pay attention to this person with their eyes shining brightly.

To the students, this person is a celebrity or influencer who wants to learn, be like, and imitate.

Comments are also covered by saying that they are cool and want to be like them.

Although he is not a celebrity, he has a higher level of popularity than a celebrity.

There are many factors that can stimulate people's complexes.

English is like that, academic background is like that, looks like that, wealth is like that.

"Every time I hear such a story, I often think, 'People value extraneous things.' Where did you come from, there is a building, what is your appearance, etc. For example, it has been 20 years since I entered Seoul National University. It's really embarrassing to receive such compliments over and over for my achievements 20 years ago... I think rather than that, what kind of content I lived yesterday and how the 24 hours were yesterday should be the basis for praising that person. Even if you own a building, how you fill your day-to-day in the building is much more important, and there are many people who live a lot better without it.

Seeing this person speaking English in an entertainment program, the appearance of the celebrities who appeared in the show symbolically shows the English complex in our society.

“Before I started working as a broadcaster, the power of English is so special in Korea. English can become a position, English can become a Korean language, English can become a motive for causing a complex, and I was very surprised. Do you speak English well or not? It can decide a lot of things, so I'm very grateful, but I think it's a problem for people's self-esteem to go back and forth depending on one condition."

He said that he hoped that the dignity, self-esteem, and dignity of a person would not be shaken because of one or two conditions that a person has.

He is good at English, but who can cook well, who can have better physical strength than him, and may have a loving family and children.

He said that he wanted to become a being that lets him know that he is a precious being rather than envying his juniors, younger brothers, young women, and many people who look at him.

She also said that it hurts to see people who do not know their beauty while looking at celebrities or singer idols.

"So. I think this is what happens when a husband from entertainment and a wife from a journalist met. A husband is a person who has to keep creating such fantasies and romances, but a wife should not give people a sense of deprivation, that there should be no one excluded. It's a really funny combination."

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There was a time when a house was revealed on a variety show.

At first glance, it was a large and luxurious house for a young couple who had just got married.

Wouldn't that sound empty to some people if someone living in such a house said that each of us should cherish our own life?

"That house is a house my husband signed for a charter before he met me... I think this is a matter of attitude. Our society is a capitalist society, and we have to keep highlighting what we do well in a competitive society, and we have to keep showing our achievements. It's the world, but I end up being content with myself for my achievements."

No matter what he does, he catches people's attention.

It was the same when I was a journalist, when I was an interpreter, and when I was dating and getting married.

Although it is said to be the style of rolling one's feet to perfect the task at hand, it gives the impression that he has become famous with just a few gestures.

Some people look at this person with envy, but there are also a lot of people who look at this person with jealousy.

He said that he did not get hurt or change himself because of malicious comments, but he said that it was a good thing that comments on entertainment articles were blocked and real-time search terms disappeared.

If you translated Oprah Winfrey's book, and the translator's introduction, which is not very long, was unique.

The introduction of the book or author, and the difficulties encountered in the translation process would be a typical translator's preface, but this person filled the preface with his own thoughts.

More than half of the interview articles he wrote for the Catholic magazine he devoted his heart to are himself.

Because of this appearance, I sometimes hear people say that I am not a civil servant.

I am very interested in writing, probably because writing is the best way to express and reveal myself.

He is a person with a strong desire to reveal himself and express his thoughts.

He said that when he was in college, he was extremely reluctant to reveal himself, and when working as a reporter, he was afraid of the search term itself.

Those were times of oppression for this man.

He lived by suppressing his instinctive desires, so I wondered how frustrating those times must have been.

There are times when he is wary of himself whether he is showing off or boasting, but now he lives by revealing himself through work, not to mention in everyday life.

With that in mind, seeing this person seemed much more comfortable and freer than when I met him a few years ago.

Maybe it was a gift from marriage.

"My husband tells me, 'People don't care that much about you, so do whatever you want.' ' but I always say, 'What am I doing?

5. <My enemy who lives under the same roof>

I asked this person who was born in 1983:

“Yes. I grew up in a family with only daughters, and since I have been a woman all my life, I am naturally interested in issues related to women.”

“I am most angry in my family. Marriage causes a lot of anger. I live with a man in my family too, so I get angry when faced with patriarchal things. I don’t even have to go to social things. There is no equality under this roof where I belong. If not, I'm angry."

The word feminism has been changed a little differently, she said, seeking female empowerment and gender empowerment rather than the word.

She explained it this way:

"Simply put, my autonomy or my rights are not violated because of the gender I was born with. When I talk with my husband or have a social life, is my decision taking into account the various cards that are on the table? Or is it because of my gender? A lot of people ask me if it's a judgment call. I think this is an everyday issue."

When asked when he started having such thoughts, he said that his growing up had an influence.

As a family with only three daughters, they had never experienced discrimination and had a democratic and egalitarian atmosphere.

As with anyone, marriage is not an easy one.

Her husband runs an entertainment company with over 70 employees.

He has a 7-story office building in Gangnam.

An interview with this person was also conducted in that building.

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"It's also true. Saying that this marriage was a success or a good choice is not something my husband does, it's something we have to make together. So I think this is something I should do in the future."

I cried profusely at the funeral of the late Cardinal Jeong Jin-seok, who passed away last year.

It was because of her reflection on her own marriage.

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"When I met him for the interview, I was the bride-to-be. He gave me advice on what to do for a happy marriage, but I didn't keep any of them. Even after hearing such precious stories, I lived the opposite way. I shed a lot of tears of reflection at the thought that you were giving me a lesson once again.”

Seeing her husband appearing on variety shows, I thought, 'This person is playing happiness'.

I wonder if there are any other things in life that aren't acting, but after listening to this person, I don't think I'll be acting to show others.

6. <I am not an exception, but…

>

He has been writing interview articles for 7 years until last month under the title 'Ahn Hyun-mo's happy story' for a monthly magazine called <Catholic Vitacón>.

She has met over 80 people so far.

She wrote about 20 pages of 200-character manuscript paper, one per month.

She has devoted almost a week of her time to covering and writing.

She couldn't find her interview articles online, so I asked her to send me the articles she had written so far, and she sent me five articles.

Her writing was neat and warm.

She went looking for people who could tell good stories, good stories, and warm stories.

The people she met there were her life teachers, she said.

Her 94-year-old fashion designer Ms. Norano is one of those teachers.

She told me that Mrs. Norano, like her granddaughter, should always live with a sense of debt to the community who benefited from this person.

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“Since I was young, I felt like I was in debt, that I should be more careful, and that I should be a little more considerate. I've made a lot of money, so I don't have to worry about money, and then this kind of feeling may go away, but I never want to lose this kind of feeling. This is the direction of my life."

I try to include others, not just me, because of my talents, contributing to the community, working, and making money.

Together with my husband, I donate and volunteer regularly to find people in need.

He didn't ask how much he shared or how many good deeds he did.

The amount and number of times are not necessary to get to know this person.

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“It is important to create a foundation, exercise, and run a campaign, but I want to be the first person to live such a life. A life in which words and actions are consistent. I am not confident that I will do anything big. I have the confidence to support people, and I like to share these kinds of stories with people around me.”

Then, when I said that I would be interested in politics, I said no.

There were a few politicians who asked for help, but they kept their distance from voting politics.

"I'm not even good at politics and I'm not really interested in anything like that. And I don't think this is the time for politicians to change the world. There are many people who lead much better changes among business people, and the media and pop culture people have the power to change the world. I think there are more. I don't think that you can change the world only by getting votes through politics. I really don't care about that kind of politics."

He was a person who had little commitment to the organization or the idea that the future of the organization was my future.

It was surprising to hear that a person who seemed to live in another world spoke of his affection and interest in the community.

When I asked if it might be an outdated idea to talk about a community in a world where individualistic values ​​are spreading, he said no.

"Actually, people born in the late 80's or 90's don't have much awareness of the community. On the other hand, the older generation was very thorough. I wondered if it was because I was born in the early 80s. Maybe if I was born in the 90s, I would be sorry. Of course, I am not in a position to represent the generation in the early 80s."

"In what way?"

“There is no such thing, but I think it’s a lucky and grateful life. But when I say things like this, my husband is like this. ‘If other people hear you, they will know you are the daughter of a conglomerate family. People who have lived a single life don't think it's as complicated as you do'… There are many things I don't have, and there are many more blessed people who are far better than me, but I have received these things and enjoyed these things, and fortunately I was able to avoid these things, so I am grateful. If I don't think about it, I think it's a big betrayal, so rather than thinking that I'm exceptional, I think that I should always remember to be grateful for what I've received."

I thought he must have given a lot of lectures, but he didn't.

He said the most frightening thing was lectures.

"I don't give lectures. When I get a request for a lecture, I don't think it's the right place for me to stand, so I don't do it. In particular, I've never been to a corporate lecture, so what do I tell people who work there every day and live a fierce life? Can I do it?"

I want to become a person who can give lectures later when more life experiences are accumulated and the story of life becomes more solid.

Because lectures are to teach and at the same time share their know-how and wisdom.

7. <Still looking for a career path>

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We are forty years old this year.

I thought something like, 'Senior, I'm already forty, now I'm old' would come out, but there was no such word.

“At 40, I can overcome any temptation, but everything is still temptation… These days, I feel like I was 30 years old in the past. I don't think I'm that old."

It is sometimes embarrassing to think about a career path to reach this age, saying that I am thinking about what I will do in the future.

You might hear the name of a painter or a designer because you still want to draw.

It is somewhat surprising that this greedy man has not yet written a book under his own name.

There were many proposals to publish a book.

Some publishers wanted to publish English as a theme, and some wanted to publish your life as a theme.

The reason I rejected such an offer was because of my greed to publish a proper book even if only one book was published.

He said he was thinking of acting.

“Looking back on me, I think I like roles that are a bit on the borderline. It’s not like that. So even now, I can be on the border between ordinary people and entertainers, I can be on the border between reporters and interpreters, and from the point of view of someone who speaks a foreign language. I think I'm on the border between Koreans and Americans, but I think I like being one step apart, and I think that helps me."

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When I was in the press, my body and mind seemed to be completely discharged.

I just wanted to rest for a few days.

Then he spent ten days at a meditation center in India and found the open sea within him.

After discovering his own sea, he was able to find a balance between the inside and the outside.

The terms 'balance' and 'connection' are words this person uses a lot.

They try to be connected with the world and people, yet they always talk with their inner self.

When he talks with him, he always thinks that what he sees is not everything.

In the process of preparing the interview material, he informed me in advance that he was curious about these things.

She thought she might be embarrassed in front of unexpected questions.

Consideration for former colleagues and juniors could be called consideration, but it would not have been necessary.

He was not the type of person who would be embarrassed by any questions and would not whine under any circumstances.

I wondered if he was such a strong and dignified person.

He said he was confident that he could survive even if he fell into the desert alone.

There was a part where I thought that the person asking the question was giving the expected answer, and there was a feeling that a person with a lot wanted to get the right word, but he was not a person who would say something he didn't like.

He is a person who takes the weight of words and words seriously.

He knows well that what he said is a promise and a promise to himself.

Saying things like that, knowing that sometimes you might be shackled, is an expression of your desire to live that way.

This somewhat surprising discovery of this person may have been possible because of the power of equal dialogue.

It would have been difficult to understand this aspect if it had been the relationship between seniors and juniors, those who instruct and those who receive instructions, and those who evaluate and those who are evaluated.

An equal conversation with an equal person lasted over three hours, and there was no time to be bored.

(This interview was held at the Brand New Music office in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul on May 30th.)

*The full video of an interview with broadcaster Hyun-mo Ahn will be released on the SBS News YouTube channel at 9 pm today (4th).