KJCKorea
Journal Central

Juriae Lee, Juyeon Lee, Junho Lee, Jiun Huh (2025). Interpreters’ use and perceptions of generative AI: A survey of Korean professional interpreters. Despite rapid advances in AI, research on its use in interpreting is limited; little is known about interpreters’ perceptions. According to a survey conducted by KATI among interpreters in Korea, generative AI has yet to significantly impact the interpreting market, but interpreters are showing interest in it and using it in various ways during preparation. Interpreters who actively utilize AI and prepare for future changes tend to have a more positive outlook on the AI era. At the same time, concerns were expressed about the ethical implications of using AI in interpreting and its potential impact on the profession. This study concludes that enhanced training and institutional support are needed to help interpreters strengthen their professional competencies and adapt to ongoing transformations in the AI era. (Ewha Womans University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Chung Ang University, Korea)

Hoonmil Kim (2025). A longitudinal study on quantitative changes in students’ fidelity and fluency observed in English-Korean simultaneous classroom. This study examines changes in fidelity and fluency in English-Korean simultaneous interpreting among graduate students over two semesters. While average fidelity scores remained stable (61.7% to 62.8%), modest improvement was observed when adjusting for outlier performance (61.7% to 66.0%). Notably, lower-performing students showed significant gains, while higher performers plateaued, suggesting they had reached their performance ceiling by the end of the first semester. Fluency, measured by speech rate, improved by over 15% (from 201 to 231 syllables per minute; to 241 spm excluding the outlier). However, disfluency markers increased, likely due to heightened anxiety during the higher-stakes graduation exam, with stronger effects among lower performers. Despite the small sample size (n = 7), the findings highlight meaningful improvements in fidelity and fluency, as well as group differences, offering educational implications for English-Korean simultaneous interpreting classes. (International Graduate School of Language Education)

Minseo Kim and Sung-Eun Cho (2025). Subtitling and Dubbing of Swearwords in Game Localization: A case study of Cyberpunk 2077. The rapid expansion of the global gaming industry necessitates a closer examination of game localization for the Korean market. The Korean translation of profanity in Cyberpunk 2077 has sparked significant discussion, particularly concerning the intentional amplification of swearwords. This study comprehensively explores Valdeón’s (2020) vulgarization hypothesis, which asserts that translated texts often intensify profanity. By focusing on the subtitling and dubbing of Cyberpunk 2077, the analysis clearly demonstrates how swearwords are translated into Korean, with a particular emphasis on instances of intensification and addition. The research goes beyond textual analysis by incorporating valuable insights from interviews with localization directors and voice actors, as well as user feedback from online communities. These findings underscore the linguistic and contextual complexities involved in translating profanity, addressing a crucial gap in the study of expletive translation in video games. (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Korea)