Lost in Translation: Desperate Hunt for Interpreters Amid North Korea and Russia Diplomatic Crisis

[앵커]
It seems that an unexpected situation is happening inside North Korea, which has dispatched a large number of soldiers. As a result of our investigation, we found that the North Korean authorities are in an emergency situation in recruiting Russian interpreters. Due to the current situation, the demand for Russian language is rapidly increasing, so much so that it is necessary to bring in interpreters from consulates in other countries.

Washington correspondent Lee Tae-hyung reported exclusively.

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Ukrainian intelligence authorities understand that the Russian military plans to deploy one interpreter for every 30 North Korean soldiers.

Considering that the number of troops dispatched by the National Intelligence Service is more than 10,000, a huge number of interpreters are needed.

Even in North Korea, it is urgent to find Russian interpreters.

A source in North Korea said, “North Korea is having difficulty selecting interpreters due to the large-scale deployment of Russian troops,” adding, “The shortage is so severe that they even have to send in Russian interpreters working at the Chinese consulate.”

There is a severe shortage of interpreters who graduate from the Russian language department at Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies every year.

Compared to China, North Korea has not had close exchanges with Russia over the past 30 years.

Therefore, North Korea is known to have focused on teaching other languages, such as English, rather than Russian.

Ryu Hyun-woo / Former Acting North Korean Ambassador to Kuwait
“More than 15 Russian students graduate every year. In 10 years, the number increases to about 150. The number of people learning Russian is not that large.”

Moreover, as interpreters are also deployed on the battlefield, there is also an age limit of 45 years or younger, so it is predicted that difficulties in Russian interpretation will become a variable in the number of troops deployed.

This is Taehyung Lee from TV Chosun in Washington.