Korea is an ancient civilization. Long before the twentieth century, it had close diplomatic and trade relations with China, and later, with Japan. These exchanges required language mediators; in other words, interpreters. During the twentieth century, South Korea opened up to the West and now plays an increas ingly important role in world affairs, political, economic, and cultural. The range of tasks taken on by interpreters has widened accordingly. They operate both internationally, mediating diplomatic, industrial, and commercial ties and, more recently, at national level, with the increasing demand for community interpreters. Readers will find in this welcome Handbook an extensive account of numerous aspects of inter preting and interpreting research in South Korea, from historical perspectives to future opportunities. Today, a good number of Korean universities offer courses in interpreting. Many of their instruc tors were trained abroad, in Switzerland, in Germany, and quite a few in Paris, at the Ecole Supérieure d’Interprètes et de Traducteurs (ESIT). Training in both the theory and practice of interpreting is a must for would-be interpreters to be able to practice their chosen profession with a high degree of proficiency. Unsurprisingly, therefore, the most extensive section of this handbook focuses on Interpreter Education. The other two largest sections cover Community Interpreting (a fairly new development the world over) and Opportuni ties for the Future. Although several papers deal with interpreter training in general, some languages are covered specifically, like English, Arabic, Chinese, French, and Russian, although these are certainly not the only ones required in a combination with Korean. The section on Opportunities for the Future discusses the changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, like the increasing use of remote interpreting. It also broaches the subject of automatic interpreting—surely a futuristic development. Most contributors to this volume come from Korea but, interestingly, one is from Russia, four from China, and three from Australia. (Community interpreting first developed in Australia, a coun try of immigration. It is therefore logical that Australians author two of the papers in this section.) This diversity illustrates the importance of Korea’s relations with its most immediate neighbors. Overall, this Handbook gives an invaluable overview of the history, development, and teaching of Korean interpreting and interpreting research. It is an important reference tool for both students and scholars interested in this region of the world. Due to its geopolitical situation, Korea has a long history of interpretation, dating back to the Goryeo Dynasty (918–1392) and, more systematically, during the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910). Interpreters classified as jungin, or middlemen, were so not only according to the caste system but also in the work that they did and that we still do. However, during the Joseon Dynasty, they did a lot more than just interpret; they acted as protocol officers for both the Chinese and Korean courts; they were exporters and importers bringing and selling goods at a time when people could not travel freely; they were conduits for new—often Western—knowledge; and negatively, they also acted as spies. After a hiatus during the Japanese occupation, the first modern educational institution to be established was the Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in 1979. Since the curriculum included simultaneous interpretation, there was much resistance, both inside and outside the institution, because it was deemed an impossible feat to simultaneously interpret between Western and Asian languages. After enjoying a monopoly for eighteen years, today there are eleven graduate schools of interpretation and translation and count less undergraduate programs that have interpretation and/or translation courses or a separate track. Compared to its heyday, when more than 800 students would apply, there are considerably fewer applicants these days. However, this is not only due to the fact that the profession has lost some of its luster with more people in the general public becoming fluent in foreign languages and people becoming concerned that AI and machine translation and interpretation might make the profession obsolete, but also because there are more graduate schools of interpretation and translation, which has caused the applicants to spread out. Despite the advances in machine translation and interpreta tion, it has been proven time and again that interpreters and translators are irreplaceable . . . at least for the moment. The Routledge Handbook of Korean Interpreting brings together the most authoritative voices on Korean interpreting. The first graduate school of interpretation and translation was established in South Korea in 1979. Since then, not only has the interpretation and translation market grown ex ponentially, but so has research in Translation studies. Though the major portion of research focuses on translation, interpretation has not only managed to hold its own, but interpretation studies in Korea have been a pioneer in this field in Asia. This Handbook aims to highlight the main interpre tation research trends in South Korea today. The present volume is going to be the fi rst international volume focusing exclusively on Korean interpreting from a theoretical, pedagogic, and practical standpoint. Compared to other monographs or edited collections on the same topic, this book pre sents a wide variety of voices from Korean interpreting scholars and practitioners. This book is divided into four sections; namely, Historical Perspectives, Education, Community Interpreting, and Opportunities for the Future. This volume also contains a Foreword by Professor Marianne Lederer, who argues that “this Handbook gives an invaluable overview of the history, development and teaching of Korean interpreting and interpreting research. It is an important refer ence tool for both students and scholars interested in this region of the world.” We grouped the chapters, for the reader’s convenience, into four sections, but many of the chap ters speak to more than a single aspect. This book contains 29 chapters, six providing a historical perspective, nine focusing on education, eight on community interpreting, and six off ering oppor tunities for the future. These final chapters somehow lead the way into future trends.
