The best example of president translating happened at the Korea and Japan summit meeting in 2004, Jeju Island. At that time one Japanese reporter asked the Korean president about the Dokdo islands starting with “Takeshima…” and then unintentionally he answered with “About Takeshima issue…”. There is no doubt that the Korean president designated Dokdo as Takeshima. The Korean staff turned pale because of the mistake. Fortunately, the interpreter passed on the word by saying “About Dokdo issue….” Therefore, they got through the critical moment.
 That shows how interpreters are in a primary role in the process of a summit meeting. Even if a president can speak fluently in another language, they can still be in need of an interpreter. For example, President Lee Seung-man and President Choi Kyu-ha were good at English but they also attended with interpreters at meetings. The first reason is that president should speak in their nation’s language, when attending official meetings. However, sometimes they can communicate in foreign languages in private sessions. Secondly, foreign languages cannot express what the president may want to mention, so interpretation can convey a slightly different shade of meaning. In addition, some presidents can think and prepare for the next question while the interpreter is doing the translation. In this way, it has become necessary to have interpreters, so jobs for interpreters have increased. Therefore, the way of interpreters has also increased with feelings of fondness toward the profession.
There are several types of interpreting. Some are summit conference interpretations. This type of diplomatic interpretation is mainly used at summit conferences. There are three types of interpretation at summits: state visits, official visits, and working visits. State visits need very formal interpretation, and has a complicated process. However, this is limited to only once a year. Official visits are a step lower than the state visit. A man of ministerial caliber is coming out to greet them and the length of the red carpet is shortened. Finally, working visits are more concentrated to discussions of pending issues. Professor Choi Jung-wha worked as an interpreter at seven summit conferences between Korea and France. The first one was an official visit, the second, third, forth visits were state visits, and the fifth, sixth, seventh were so called special summit conferences where each leader meets in a host country for a conference not in their home country.
 To be one of the best political interpreters, a Cheonwadae, one needs expert knowledge of politics, economics, social problems, and culture, which differ from other types of interpretations. Therefore, Professor Choi continuously follows up on the world issues and extending her knowledge. So, obtaining upcoming news and information is important to her. If she travels to the interior of some countries, there is no internet, newspapers, or televisions. Cheowadae interpretation requires a certain interpreter’s characteristic and etiquette as practiced on diplomatic occasions. In addition, before taking pictures at a summit conference, interpreters need to stand back quickly. Such ability and manners are basic things in interpretation. There is a saying that the president’s interpreter should not be too handsome or pretty. However, professor Choi said that the good-looking appearance does not matter in translating. For example, few years ago, one interpreter was a paragon of beauty but she was good at translating and did act properly on every occasion so her appearance was not very important.
It is good for a President to speak a foreign language. However, if they do not, there is no fault or inconvenience, because at official international conferences, they always use their native languages and their interpreter announces messages to others. For them, there is always a dignified professional interpreter. First, if someone is selected to be the presidential translator, he or she should write a written promise, which includes that they will never mention anything discussed with the President.
If sensitive issues came out between two countries, only two leaders and two interpreters would know about the contents that they had interpreted or debated. In that case, some reporters are making huge efforts to form intimate relationships with the president interpreter who rides a special plane with the president and who goes overseas on business trips. However, considering the first qualification to being a presidential interpreter is taciturnity of their work, they must keep secrets due to national security.

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