Interpreters in KBL say job is tough


There are only two men on the bench during a Korean basketball game that wear a suit and tie: the manager and the interpreter.

In the Korean Basketball League, each team has at least one overseas player and one interpreter.

Coaches say foreign players are crucial for their teams as they usually score the most points. And as the demand for foreign players grew, so did the importance of interpreters in the KBL.

On a Wednesday night game between the Samsung Thunders and ET-Land Elephants at Jamsil gymnasium, Han Ki-yoon, 33, was sitting next to the Elephants coach on the bench.

During the game, when the coach stood up, Han also stood up. And when the coach went to the sideline, shouting at the players, Han followed suit.

“It’s not an easy job, you have to be really focused throughout the game,” said Han, the Korean-English interpreter for the Elephants.

Han is one of the veteran interpreters in the KBL. He has already spent seven seasons with the Incheon-based Elephants.

“I was working part-time at a basketball magazine when the editor introduced me to this job, and now I’m full-time here,” Han said.

He lived in the United States from ages 7-11, so the language, he says, was not an issue when he first started the job.

“But it’s not just about interpreting. You have to know everything, the rules, game strategies and also about the players,” he said.

The most difficult task in interpreting, Han said, is keeping both managers and players happy.

“Although I translate exactly what the manager says, sometimes the players don’t understand. And if they play wrong, the blame is on me,” he said.

A keen understanding of basketball is a must-have for this job, said Jung Chul-woo of KT Sonicboom.

“When I first started three years ago, I read the basketball dictionary from cover to cover three times, because if you are on the bench, you have to speak the language of basketball,” said Jung.

In the KBL, each team is allowed five 90-second and two 20-second timeouts per regular game. This is the time when coaches give a pep-talk to the team and change strategies, and this is when the interpreters are at their busiest.

“There’s a lot of noise, and the time is really short. I have to shout out loud to be heard, and use simple sentences to be understood. But it’s not that easy,” said Jung.

Sometimes when coaches become tense, they yell at the players, using Korean swear words.

Asked how to interpret in that situation, Jung said: “You don’t need to translate the words. They know by looking at the coach, so when the coach says those words, I just say ‘calm down,’ or ‘stay focused’ something like that.”

Their work is not limited to the basketball court, said Choi Eun-dong, 25, an interpreter with the Anyang KGC.

“It’s more than a full-time job, it’s like a life-time job,” Choi said noting that he has to stick with the foreign player almost 24 hours a day.

“Teams tend to micro manage the foreign players. They want know everything about the players, even when they are off the court, they are at home.”

Choi admitted he also take care of the players’ personal life, for instance, taking them to the bank or hairdresser’s, and has to take care of their family as well.

“You are like a babysitter, but the good thing is we can get really close. Our player, Rodney White, he is like my big brother now,” he added.

Asked whether he wants to continue with interpreting, Cho said: “Our contract is usually year long. And we think this job is a temporary thing. I think you can’t do this for a long time.”

But Jung said that he believes the job can be a great opportunity for those who are interested in the sport.

“It’s really different from watching basketball on the stands. You learn a lot from the coach and players,” he added.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)