The Former President of the Catholic Journalists Association in the Eyes of the Believers column of the Catholic Times gives the readers information on Vatican News in Korean.
He has a special Kakao Talk group chat room. He has 11 conversation partners, and a notification pops up around 10 p.m. every night except on Saturdays or the day before holidays. About three article URLs come up with names. [Articles uploaded on certain days in June]. In the URL link, the names 'Lee and Kim' are attached. The person in question gives only a short response, saying:“I understand”. There is no separate doorplate for each room. At this point, readers may not be able to contain their curiosity. ‘What is the true identity of this place?
This is the story of the people who create the Korean page for the Vatican News. Vatican News, the official news outlet published by the Holy See's Ministry of Public Relations, is a digital portal serving the mission of evangelization. Currently, news services are provided in 40 languages, including Italian, English, and French, and Korean. In addition, the news is classified into 4 divisions— the Pope, the Vatican, the Church, and the world, and goes out to the Catholics around the world.
Let's find out more about the 'Vatican News' Korean page. In 2014, on the occasion of Pope Francis' visit to Korea, a business agreement was signed between the government and the Vatican for the Korean language addition project. After the government project ended in 2017, the Public Relations Committee of the Seoul Archdiocese took over the operation of the Korean language service. The Korean page is the only case run by a local church outside of Rome.
My gaze goes to the aforementioned group chat room routinely around 10:00 p.m. every Thursday night. This is because in Rome, Italy, the responsible priest distributes Italian and English articles to translators. The Korean page currently has 2 reviewers, 2 editors, and 6 translators.
He started translating English news into Korean from the beginning of the year, and half a year has passed before he knew it. After checking the news to be translated, sharing the original text on Google Drive, he works on translating until late at night. He wakes up early the next day, checks the words, and works to refine the article. This is because he personally has to finish the translation early before he goes to his classes in theology. Although his body and mind are busy, he is grateful he can use some of his small talents for the church.
There is a famous saying “translation is treason”. It is observed that the translation does not properly preserve the intention and accuracy of the original text due to the intervention of the translator. While accepting the reasonableness of this view, it is difficult to respond perfectly due to differences in language and culture. In fact, there are many cases where it is awkward to directly translate a foreign language. So, some paraphrase and explain that does not damage the original text. Most of the translators of Vatican News translate Italian articles into Korean, but only the author and one other person are in charge of English news. Anyway, he turns on his laptop and works with his butt on the chair. It reminds him of a elder's encouragement that translation is a work of perseverance. Looking forward to the next work, taking advantage of the saying “translators are creators of culture”
There are not many believers who know the ‘Vatican News’ and its Korean language pages. This is because of the lack of publicity. Shouldn't good things be spread through word of mouth and shared? The Catholic news media thirsts for our love and attention. Let's bookmark it now and surf whenever we can.
Just install the Vatican News app on your phone. On the web, click the Korean page address (https://www.vaticannews.va/ko.html). You can also access it through Facebook or Kakao Page. Let's not miss the many spiritual treasures, such as the Pope's sermons, along with the latest news from the universal and local churches. The biblical phrase: “Only taste and see” (Psalm 34:9) sounds like the words of the Lord to inform us of ‘Vatican News’
