[TEXT]: Walks with Tony Diplomatic Interpreters
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[TEXT: Walks with Tony]
[Secretary Blinken:] So, today I’m here to meet up with
an absolutely vital member of our team at the State Department:
a diplomatic interpreter.
We could not do our work without her and without them.
[TEXT: Dr. Yun-hyang Lee, Director, Office of Language Services, U.S. Department of State] [Yun-hyang Lee:] My name is Yun-hyang Lee.
I am the director of Office of Language Services
in the State Department.
I’m also a senior diplomatic interpreter for Korean.
[Blinken:] So, I’m about to walk into the famous Dean Acheson Auditorium,
named after our 51st Secretary of State.
[Lee:] Our office provides interpreting
and translating service to our leaders,
including the President, Vice President,
NSC, Secretary of State, Department of State,
and other agencies in the federal government.
[Blinken:] Dr. Lee!
[Lee:] Mr. Secretary! [Blinken:] Good to see you.
[Lee:] Nice to see you again.
[Blinken:] I am really, really happy to have this conversation because
I’m always on the receiving end
of the most amazing team that you help lead: our interpreters.
Tell me a little bit about your team.
You’ve got an amazing group of people.
[Lee:] We have about 60-some full-time staff in the office
but what’s also unique is that
we have about 1,000 contract translators and interpreters
because it’s a huge operation.
We have —
[Blinken:] You have to cover virtually every language in the world.
[Lee:] Exactly.
So it’s a big team,
but we are very, very proud to be doing what we do.
Our office was established by Thomas Jefferson,
the first Secretary of State,
so we have about — over 200 years of history.
[Blinken:] What I found remarkable about the interpreters
is you’re somehow actually able to capture,
not just the words themselves,
but the feeling, the meaning, the emphasis behind them.
[Lee:] The diplomatic interpreting, diplomatic translating
is at the highest level of interpreting and translating field
because in diplomacy
these words are very, very carefully selected, as you know.
So we try to really do justice to the words
that our leaders try to convey.
It is a difficult job but it is never boring
as you can imagine.
And the fact that you are part of the history in the making,
that’s an awesome, awesome experience.
[Blinken:] I’ve worked with interpreters for about 30 years now,
but I’ve only seen it from one side of things: from the receiving end.
I’d actually love to see it from the interpreter’s side.
[Lee:] We will take you and show you behind the scenes
of where we work and how we work.
[Blinken:] Let’s do it!
Ahhh, alright!
[Lee:] So, Mr. Secretary, this is an interpretation booth.
So let me show you how it works.
[Blinken:] Good. [Lee:] If we can take the headsets
[Blinken:] OK, never done this before.
[Lee:] So we have a speaker over there. Usually that would be you.
And she’s going to be using a quote from
[Lee:] Dean Acheson. Yes. [Blinken:] Secretary Acheson. Yeah.
[Lee:] So let me interpret that
[Lectern Speaker:] “Negotiating in a classic diplomatic sense, [Lee:] (speaking in Korean)
[Lectern Speaker:] assumes parties more anxious to agree than to disagree.” [Lee:] (speaking in Korean)
[Blinken:] It’s amazing how you’re able to,
quite literally, do it simultaneously.
It’s a remarkable skill and I can tell you
we can’t do our diplomacy without it.
And thanks for sharing this. It’s great to be on the other side.
[Blinken:] To see what’s happening in the booth. [Lee:] Yes!
[Blinken:] So, one thing Dr. Lee. I know you’re always looking
for the best and brightest.
We need more people to come into doing interpretation.
[Lee:] We’re always looking for interpreters and translators
because communication is key to everything
not just diplomacy, world peace …
[TEXT: To learn more visit state.gov/interpreter] So we’re looking for interpreters and translators in all languages.
Come to us, take the exam with us, and be part of our team.
[Blinken:] Great, and see the world in the process!
[Lee:] Exactly. [Blinken:] Thank you. [Lee:] Thank you very much.
[TEXT]: state.gov U.S. Department of State Select Media © AP Images