Oh Mi-Kyung Reporter

Former Professor Lee Eui-Yong

<Group Questions>

Q1. Thank you for allowing us to interview you. Could you please introduce yourself?

Lee: Hello, I am Lee Eui-Yong, the first-term reporter, one of those who founded THE KOOKMIN REVIEW. I entered the Department of English Language and Literature at KMU in 1973 and joined the Ssangyong Group after graduation. I also served as the professor of the College of Liberal Arts at KMU. After retirement, I am currently working as an essayist.

Park: Hello, I am Park Seong-Ho, the seventh-term reporter. I joined THE KOOKMIN REVIEW in 1979 as a cub-reporter and eventually served as the editor-in-chief in 1982. My professional journalism career officially commenced in 1985 at The Korea Herald. Subsequently, I transitioned to YTN TV in 1994 and continued my reporting duties until 2018, holding various positions, including Washington Bureau chief. In 2019,I entered academia as a professor of journalism at KMU.

Q2. Could you share what made you decide to join THE KOOKMIN REVIEW?

Lee: In 1975, honorary Professor Kim Yong-Jeon, who held the post of managing editor of The Korea Herald, started to hold academic positions at the Department of English Language and Literature at KMU. As a student, I suggested Professor Kim to launch an English press at KMU several times, since there was a Korean press, but not one in English.
Other founding members and I made tenacious efforts to persuade Professor Kim, eventually leading him to launch THE KOOKMIN REVIEW, publishing the first English newspaper under the title of ‘The Kookmin Times’. I felt very proud to publish the first English newspaper of KMU because only a few universities were operating English press.

Park: As a freshman, I was deeply interested in making even the smallest change in society. A recruitment bulletin posted on the campus newspaper caught my attention because I believed a news organization could be a potent vehicle through which I could make an impact on social issues. Joining an English newspaper as well, I thought, would broaden the scope of journalistic influence.

<Individual Questions for former Professor Lee>

Q3. As a founding member of THE KOOKMIN REVIEW, what does THE KOOKMIN REVIEW mean to you? This organization must evoke fond memories as you return for an interview with junior reporters. Furthermore, our 300th issue must be very impressive to you.

Lee: Of course. Since I was a director of THE KOOKMIN REVIEW before, its 300th issue impresses me more than anyone else. I left various footprints at KMU including making a choir and conducting it, undertaking the head of the literary department of the student council. Founding THE KOOKMIN REVIEW is one of my most meaningful achievements as a student. I am so glad that THE KOOKMIN REVIEW has been maintained well and would like to appreciate all the excellent juniors during the past 49 years.

Q4. I heard that you are currently working as an essayist. How has your time at THE KOOKMIN REVIEW influenced your journey to becoming an essayist?

Lee: My career as a writer commenced at Ssangyong Group by serving as the editor-in-chief of the corporate magazine, based on my experience at THE KOOKMIN REVIEW. As the editor-in-chief of this corporate magazine, I won the award as the best editor. After then, I made my debut as an essayist, contributing to various columns and essays in newspapers and magazines and publishing nearly 50 books. In fact, starting my office life, I promised myself to write one book a year. Now that I am preparing my 51st book, I have achieved my goal. I believe all the driving force for my work comes from my experience at THE KOOKMIN REVIEW.

<Individual Questions for Professor Park>

Q5. I heard that you worked as a reporter at YTN. How has your experience at THE KOOKMIN REVIEW influenced your journey to becoming a reporter?

Park: Journalism practices in a college news outlet greatly contributed to my professional career development. I easily adapted to the entire spectrum of news production—gathering news material, writing, editing, and publication—when I joined the professional journalism circle. Furthermore, serving as the editor-in-chief of a student newspaper with 12 staff members provided me with advanced knowledge of the ‘real’ professional newsroom I would enter a few years later.

<Group Questions>
 

Q6. Unlike the present where there are various ways to learn English, I assume at that time it must have been challenging to get learning materials as a student reporter of an English Press. How did you overcome these hardships?

Lee: That’s true. At that time, there were not many English newspapers, so ‘The Korea Herald’ and ‘The Korea Times’ were the only two resources that we could refer to. However, we could overcome this challenge thanks to the director, honorary Professor Kim Yong-Jeon, who had extensive knowledge on the publication of English newspapers.

Park: My primary sources for learning English, especially written English, were The Korea Herald, Time, and Newsweek. With limited learning resources, our yearning for learning English was intense. Additionally, student reporters had to grapple with the basics of writing, editing, layout, and production. Ordering reference books from the United States took two or three months to arrive. Also, understanding the content of these “textbooks” was challenging, as the authors often introduced episodes and inner workings in the American newsroom unfamiliar to us Korean student reporters.

Q7. Which element do you think is the most essential in the publication of an English newspaper?

Lee: When I was serving as the director of THE KOOKMIN REVIEW, I put much emphasis on the importance of understanding ‘journalism’, which refers to communication between readers and reporters. Precisely, having a better understanding of journalism leads to the best direction of planning, writing, editing, and designing the article, which ultimately leads to the publication of a fascinating newspaper that catches readers’ attention. The second thing I consider important is the distribution of the published newspapers, which enables readers to have access to media. Reporters tend to end their activity when the newspapers are published.

However, they should constantly check whether the newspapers are easily accessible for the readers. As a director, I also tried to ensure that readers could access newspapers by handing
out THE KOOKMIN REVIEW to the students who attended my lecture.

Park: As a campus newspaper reporter, I considered the pursuit of truth—the definition of which no one could claim definitively—as the most basic tenet in journalism. Such aspirations and yearnings for obtaining journalistic truth have persisted into my days as a professional journalist and even in my present role as a college professor of journalism.

Q8. Could you introduce your most memorable moment while working as a student reporter at THE KOOKMIN REVIEW?

Lee: Although it was not easy for me to work as a reporter during my school days, producing English newspapers was greatly rewarding. The moment I value the most is the time when a piece of article that contains my thoughts appears in an actual newspaper, making it possible for them to be delivered to the readers. I believe being able to exhibit my values by writing an article in a newspaper is the best way to express myself. Moreover, I regularly meet my colleagues whom I met at THE KOOKMIN REVIEW and maintaining good relationships with them is also a moment which I cherish a lot.

Park: The moment I cherish the most is the time when The Kookmin Times staff members shared in the pursuit of journalism: editorial meetings, arduous writing processes, tedious proofreading, and publication!

Professor Park Seong-Ho

Q9. You might have seen the current newspaper of THE KOOKMIN REVIEW through several communication channels. What do you think are the differences between the present and the time you were active as a student reporter?

Lee: The most evident difference between the present and past is the visual appeal of THE KOOKMIN REVIEW. In the past, it was hard to use visual effects because we had to type each word on a typewriter to publish an article in the newspaper.

Nevertheless, THE KOOKMIN REVIEW now includes a wide range of colorful illustrations, achieving a transformation from a merely ‘reading’ newspaper to an ‘eye-catching’ newspaper. I would like to praise the junior reporters for this achievement.
 

Q10. Lastly, could you give a piece of advice to the junior reporters who are presently leading THE KOOKMIN REVIEW?

Lee: I would like to advise them to look at the world from a new perspective, departing from the conventional view. As a reporter, it is vital to have one’s own point of view, not the universal view, because having an original perspective enables you to write articles worth reading. The key point of writing is to experience things firsthand and express emotions that only you can feel through the practice. Therefore, I hope you think differently and creatively and cultivate your own point of view.

Park: Trying to fulfill the journalist’s role and staying on course is a demanding yet rewarding journey. No doubt.

ilavu1038@kookmin.ac.kr