hankyoreh

By Choi Woo-ri　

“I decided to translate the leaked cables after reading an article from Hankyoreh reporting on President Lee Myung-bak’s attitude on the United States and Japan that were publicized by WikiLeaks,” said Lee Dong-hyun. Lee spoke about his initial motive to begin his translation activities in an interview with Hankyoreh Tuesday at a cafe in Gwanghwamun, northern Seoul. Lee, 26, is leading the translation activities for the whistle-blowing documents with other university students as a host of online cafe (cafe.daum.net/wikiuniv) established aimed at interpreting high-classified diplomatic dispatches.

President Lee’s attitude, revealed by disclosure of leaked dispatches by the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, surprised many people including Lee Dong-hyun. President Lee’s brother, ruling Grand National Party (GNP) Lawmaker Lee Sang-deuk, revealed to the U.S. ambassador that his younger brother is “pro-U.S. and Japan to the core of his characteristics”.

“I went to the WikiLeaks website to find out if this reported remark by President Lee’ brother really was documented. I had to accept that he did indeed make such comment after I translated two three-page cables from the site. Personally, I was so ashamed that Lawmaker Lee Sang-deuk told the U.S. ambassador that his brother was pro-U.S. and pro-Japan to assure Washington he was a safe South Korean president for the U.S.”

Curious about other disgraceful or fascinating, diplomatic cables revealing the hidden truth in foreign affairs, Lee Dong-hyun opened up an Internet cafe aimed at working to translate the dispatches into Korean on Sept. 22, attracting more than 180 members less than a month.

“Those joining the cafe come from many different backgrounds,” said Lee Dong-hyun. “Some joined to study South Korea-U.S. relations in-depth. We have some members that are fluent English, after studying overseas for a long time.”

Members of the cafe have reportedly translated over 30 cables into Korean. Earlier this month, they also held a number of meetings discussing the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), in addition to discussing methods for good translations.

To prevent interpretation errors that might occur, since the members are not professional translators, they exchange their translation works and let other members assess their assignments online by leaving comments, suggestions and corrections.

“There was one sentence that I had trouble understanding. It turned out following the discussion with other members online that the word ‘Lawless’ in the sentence meant person’s name, not the definition of ‘anarchic’ that I had initially understood,” said Lee Dong-hyun.

Having seen the true nature of Seoul-Washington relations by stepping into the WikiLeaks dispatches, Lee Dong-hyun told Hankyoreh, ”An argument that South Korea has been classified as a subjugated state to the U.S., which I had used to consider obsolete ideological slogan that holds no true value, may really speak of the essence of the relations between the two nations.“

“In the whistle-blowing documents, Washington officials referred to high-ranking government officials in Seoul as ‘contacts’ while also mentioning their names. The fact that our officials were referred to as ‘contacts’ show Seoul’s subordination to Washington,” claimed the 26-year-old cafe host.

Lee Dong-hyun also said that the dialogue described in dispatches between Minister of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries under the Lee administration and then-U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow. The minister reportedly was pleading with the ambassador in a manner depicted as almost complaining and grumbling in cable, attempting to persuade Washington to import samgyetang, Korean traditional chicken soup stuffed with ginseng, in return for Seoul’s importation of U.S. beef. Lee Dong-hyun reported that the cable was ”embarrassing to read.“

Lee Dong-hyun said the ultimate goal of his recent work is to communicate with people and give them the access to the information, which has previously been only shared with the top 1% of society, by translating highly classified-leaked documentation.

“Those who wish to really extract the true meaning of strong South Korea-U.S. alliance, which the mass media does not tell us about, can contact me at @wikileaks_univ.”

(Translated by Kang Jin-kyu, Intern)

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]