'Yisei' Back in Print After Two-Years of Silence

After almost two years, Yisei is back in publication. Billed as the "voice of Koreans at Harvard," Yisei is Harvard's only bilingual journal devoted primarily to undergraduates.

Jong H. Yun '98, Yisei's editor-in-chief, attributed the journal's absence to computer difficulties and a lack of interest among the editors during the '95-'96 academic year.

Last semester, the staff had to overcome further technical challenges, he said.

"It is very difficult to lay-out the Korean text onto Pagemaker," Yun said, referring to the lay-out software the journal uses.

Despite those difficulties, Yun said that all of the current staff writers and board members "were very committed and put in a lot of time and effort" into the latest issue.

Although the magazine focuses on Korean-American issues, among its contributors are international students as well as undergraduates who are not of Korean descent.

Sang S. Park '98, the publisher of Yisei, currently lives in Korea. Even though Yisei literally means "second-generation," and refers to second-generation Korean-Americans, Sang said the magazine speaks to more broad concerns felt by both Koreans and Korean-Americans.

Park has contacted individuals at the National University in Seoul who he said are "interested in setting up an exchange" with Yisei.

Park suggested the possibility of exchanging articles with that university's magazine, perhaps on a regular basis. He said that the process of exchanging articles would be facilitated by the journal's bilingual format.

"Whatever they write to us in Korean will be translated, and both versions will be printed," he said. Park says that this format makes the magazine "accessible to more people."

Park said that he has also discussed the possibility of exchanging articles with editors of Reflections, a magazine at Stanford University that is also directed toward Korean-American students.

The current editor-in-chief of that magazine, now a law student at Stanford, is a former editor of Yisei, Park said.

Vincent S.R. Brandt, visiting lecturer on Korean history and acting director of the Korea Institute, was recruited by Yisei for the position of acting faculty adviser. Brandt is standing in for Professor of Korean History Carter J. Eckert, the institute's director, who is on leave this year at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington.

In the past, Brandt has taught at Harvard on a temporary basis, as well as at Tufts University's Fletcher School.

Brandt said he was impressed by the journal's bilingual format and the initiative of the students on its staff in reviving the magazine.

"Remembering my own college years, the idea that people who are as busy as undergraduates are having the initiative and the determination to carry through with something like this is really admirable," said Brandt. "I think they have done it with considerable flair."

James H. Park '00, a staff member, cited the importance of Yisei for race relations at Harvard and for the University's sizable community of Korean-American and Korean students.

"A lot of times issues on diversity are articulated but never put to press, and there's a big distinction between saying something and writing it down and publishing it," he said.

"The reason why this permanence is so important is because people can look back on it and see how much progress we have made," Park said. It is something you definitely need. You don't want to make progress and leave no landmarks behind."