K-campus brings international students, professionals together in networking event

Joseph Yoon, head of Pearl Abyss's localization center, speaks at K-campus's third networking event at the JoongAng Ilbo building in Mapo District, western Seoul, on Friday. [PARK SANG-MOON]

"Diversity is what brings the best out of people," Genya Smagin, senior manager at SK Telecom's investment department, said. "As part of the investment team, I visited so many companies in Korea and abroad and could clearly see the difference between companies with high diversity and the 'Korean' companies."

To create such differences, more companies in Korea are trying to have a more international workforce.

Over 100 international students who want to seize those opportunities gathered to listen to Genya and representatives from game company Pearl Abyss at the JoongAng Ilbo building on Friday for the third K-campus Networking Event.

Localization is one area that benefits from having a diverse workforce, and companies, to target foreign customers, look for people who understand not only the language but also the culture of various countries abroad.

Pearl Abyss is a company that has leveraged localization to grow its audience, servicing its games in 13 languages in over 150 countries.

Currently, 40 out of 60 employees at its localization center are foreigners.

"We want to be, and can be, the most successful gaming company," Joseph Yoon, head of the company's localization center, said. "To do that, we need colleagues that aren't just based in Korea, but all around the world."

The company's games, like Black Desert and Crimson Desert, are based on various historical eras, such as Korea's Joseon Dynasty and the medieval ages, requiring careful translation that helps gamers of different backgrounds easily understand the cultural and historical context.

Looking at Pearl Abyss as a whole, its service business divisions, such as business development and customer service, also have many foreign employees.

Marketing is another area with a lot of demand for foreigners, although the division is mostly based in Pearl Abyss's overseas offices rather than at its Korean headquarters.

Bernardo Vidal, a project lead at the company's localization center, is one of its many foreign employees.

"You need to link your strengths to the values of the company," Vidal said. "I wrote [in my resume] that I'm fluent in English and Portuguese and speak Korean while having worked in the game industry for localization because localizers were what the company was looking for."

"I also listed other software I was capable of using because even though we are a localization team, there are going to be cases where you can join a side project that can require a different skill."

For instance, the team also researches how AI can be used in translation, as it plans to have AI create a first draft of a translated text, with employees spending more time reviewing the text and doing quality control.

SK Telecom is a company that has a small but slowly growing number of foreign employees.

There were only three to four foreigners when Smagin joined the company in 2018, but there are currently 15.

The company aims to have more, opening an internship program for foreigners in August.

Among those currently at SK Telecom, half of them are working as developers. There are also many in the overseas divisions, such as the global partnerships team and the roaming team.

"Back [in 2018], I think the company HR wanted to try hiring foreigners," Smagin said. "But it was a careful process with a lot of interviews, and there was also an internship where [other candidates and I] had to do key projects."

"They looked at those who were doing well, and after all those stages, including an internship for two months, they extended offers to three people, including me."

Among the 15 foreign employees, everyone has a Test of Proficiency in Korean (Topik) level 6 or had it at some point in the past.

"The company really makes sure that you can work in a Korean setup while speaking the Korean language," Smagin said. "The system, written reports, presentations and documents are all, or almost 90 percent of them, done in Korean."

The situation is similar at Pearl Abyss's localization center.

With localization requiring fluency in both the source and target languages, it also has a high standard for Korean proficiency.

"From experience, our bare minimum is Topik level 4, but even people with Topik level 4 have a hard time communicating with other members and other teams," Yoon said. "I think Topik level 5 is the average for our company and for other companies as well."

Vidal, however, noted that qualitative factors, such as past experiences and demonstrated interest in the company, can make a difference.

"I didn't take a Topik test, so my case is a bit different," Vidal said. "But since I had experience [at] a different company doing translation, I tried to focus on showing that strength and that I could actually communicate with everybody without a problem during my interview."

He also added that passion is a trait that job candidates need to highlight in their interviews.

"I really tried to focus on how much I know about the company, like how [many] details and specifics I know," he said. "I also showed how passionate I am, so even though I'm meeting [the interviewers] for the first time, making the person trust you and know you are really willing to work there."

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]