[Media] Meeting with Lee Gyu-won, an Announcer of Korean Broadcasting System (KBS)
- Date2020.05.28
- 12270
Today, we met KBS announcer Lee gyu-won (graduating class of 1987, Education major) who is the narrating voice of "Screening Humanity,” and also serves as an adjunct professor of Communication and Media Division at Ewha Womans University as well as chairman of the Ewha Journalist Club.
Q. Greetings, alumna Lee. Could you give us a brief introduction about yourself?
It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Lee Gyu-won, the incoming class of 1983, and majored in Education. I joined KBS as an announcer after passing KBS’s 14th Open Recruitment in 1987 and have been working in broadcasting for 34 years. Moreover, I have been teaching broadcasting speech as an adjunct professor of the Communication and Media Division at Ewha since 2015.
Q. We would like to learn more details on what kind of work you are currently doing as a KBS announcer.
I'm currently hosting radio program “General News at Noon” in KBS 1 Radio Station and working as the narrator of "Screening Humanity” aired on KBS 1 TV. In the past, from 1988 to 1994, I hosted a number of news programs, including “Nine o'clock News” on KBS 1TV as well as a variety of radio programs including “Lee Gyu-won at Radio Information Center,” which was a current affairs program of KBS 1 Radio, and “Your Night and Music” and “Lee Kyu-won's Home Music Room,” both of which were classical music programs of KBS 1FM,
Q. Congratulations on winning the grand prize at "2019 Announcer Awards" and the “45th Korean Broadcasting Awards” in the narration category. It must be a moment when all your efforts paid off, how did it feel?
Thank you for your warm congratulation. I have been working in broadcasting for over 30 years, and now it becomes a part of my daily life. But strangely enough, I'm still excited and happy when I stand in front of the microphone. I also earned a few titles as being the "first” as an announcer, but in retrospect, I think I have few shows that proved to be satisfactory by my standard. I always fall short of my expectation, and I'm still looking for something to learn from younger announcers who are good at broadcasting. Furthermore, receiving the undeserved grand prize in Announcer Awards, I regretted that I haven't been able to look at myself and my surroundings properly due to my busy broadcasting schedule. So, I think it's not an award given for my achievement as an announcer, but rather it was given as encouragement for me to take care more about younger announcers and round off my career with a successful end. I would try hard to be a senior who compliments juniors a lot, not a senior who tries to be praised.
Q. So far, you have been working in various fields of broadcasting, including news, current affairs/educational programs, and radio programs. Among those, which one is the most memorable?
"Screening Humanity” and “Nine o'clock News” are the most memorable programs of all. These two are interestingly connected in a certain context. News includes the world and human affairs, so I could experience the world indirectly through it. "Screening Humanity” also contains special stories of ordinary people, so my experience and knowledge earned from the news could be incorporated into my narration. It could be said that my passion for news leads onto the narration.
Q. Could you tell us one memorable episode while working as an announcer?
A few years ago, a female anchor on the terrestrial network wore glasses while hosting a news program, which generated a lot of issues. But in fact, 30 years ago, I myself wore glasses for a week because of severe eye disease I caught. I also received an overwhelming number of calls of complaint from viewers at the time. But the number of complaints that had been pouring earlier in the week dropped significantly in the second half. What I learned from that is it is no longer an issue if the viewers became familiar with it. Another episode I would like to share is that I was the first married woman to be cast as a female anchor at “Nine o’ Clock News,” and run the news show until I was nine months pregnant. I remember that my case was called an event that marked a milestone in the broadcasting scene.
Q. We would like to know what made you dream of becoming an announcer.
I participated in Ewha’s first exchange student program and studied at Thiel College in the U.S. for a year. I majored in Education, but I studied psychology in the U.S. I wanted to study abroad because I wanted to continue my psychology study even after I came back home. But because I couldn’t afford expenses for studying abroad, I thought I should make money first before going to graduate school in the U.S. KBS was one of those companies that I applied for the reason. I also believe I was influenced by my sister, who was an announcer of MBC back then. Like that, I became an announcer through open recruitment, and I fell in love with broadcasting after I passed an audition within the KBS to become a host “Nine o’ Clock News.” The broadcast was so full of fun that I forgot my dream of studying abroad. It took a long time for me to remember my original goal, but it was too late. However, I don't have much regret because the job of an announcer suits me well.
Q. What do you think the Ewha DNA is?
Ewha gave me a lot of things. My moment in Ewha was all about the challenge. As I mentioned earlier, I was selected as one of Ewha’s first exchange students. For a year, I learned to train myself in a strange environment and overcome various difficulties. The willpower and confidence I gained from my experience in Ewha led to my acceptance to KBS’ open recruitment for an announcer, and have become the biggest asset of my life so far.
It has become a vital motto in my life to continue the relationship with Ewha so that I can return my gratitude I received from the school. Therefore, as an adjunct professor of Communication and Media Division at Ewha, I am currently transferring the expertise I gained from society to students. Furthermore, as the chairman of the Ewha Journalist Club, I am trying to make a connection between Ewha and the media scene to help Ewha students realize their dream of becoming journalists in earnest.
I think Ewha and my life are connected with a chain of fate. My mother entered the department of biology education in 1957 while my sister enrolled in the department of Audio-Visual Education in 1981. I went to the department of Education in 1983, and my two daughters to the Human Movement Studies Division in 2014 and the Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Division in 2018 respectively, which means my family produced five Ewhaians in three generations. We all want to live a life that is not disgraceful to the name of Ewha. As always, I think Ewha will be a reliable companion for both me and my daughters.
Q. What capabilities do you think people need to be an announcer or a journalist?
These days, fake news is rampant in the flood of information. At times like that, I think we need a journalist who is grounded on truth and has an ability to winnow truth from falsehood. It's not just breaking news that matters, but people have a strong belief and conviction on fact-based news should be the journalists. In particular, the announcer's personality is bound to be revealed on the show, so journalists require a cool head as well as a warm heart and soul to see the world. Also, pronunciation and vocalization practice as well as physical fitness is essential to accurately deliver news and information to viewers.