A scene from our newsroom

It’s 4:30 on a weekday afternoon, 30 minutes before our newspaper’s first edition of the day goes to press.

The newsroom is at its liveliest, in a last-minute rush to get the paper out.

In one corner, the deputy political editor, sitting in for her boss while he’s on vacation, discusses something with a reporter, most likely fact-checking, for the main photo for her page or a problematic headline.

Her glasses are suggestive of a bookworm but in conversation she proves to be no shy type and is a straight talker.

She looks as if she has made her mind up and is going back to her desk. Obviously she changes her mind and darts to the copy editing desk for consultations with the British chief of that department. The two talk for a minute or so before she heads back.

The chief copy editor has been with the paper for a long period of time and has lived for even longer in Korea.

Still, he sometimes can’t help expressing his unique British sense of “humor.”

One of two cub reporters on the politics desk is on his way to my office with a dummy sheet in hands. He joined the Times less than a month ago.

On an ordinary day, the political editor, who handles people well, is in charge.

He is an “accommodator,” rarely saying no to last-minute requests for changes.

Standing next to the city desk chief is my deputy managing editor.

The city editor, slim in stature with salt-and-pepper hair, works on his page layout. He often works late.

My deputy, a former city editor and specialist in financial affairs, is usually quiet.

Listening to the two while working on their notebook computers are two city reporters.

Minutes pass and it is 20 minutes before 5.

I check my computer to look at the main front-page article about the police declaring war against child porn to see that it has not arrived.

I have already come out of my office and told the newsroom to hurry up.

I feel tempted to go out once again but decide not to.

During my moment of indecision, the article in question arrives. I am a happy man.

Already, about 70 percent of the front page has been made up with only the main article missing.

I head to the desk of our head layout specialist, who is nimble with his hands. I sometimes envy his fast moves. “Not a chance,” I say to myself. I feel up to any last-minute screwball contingency, if he is with me at my side.

During the final minutes before 5, I shuffle a short distance between my office and the layout chief or between the layout chief and a layout member of staff who happens to take care of Page 2.

Two rows of desks next to the layout department belong to the Business Department.

The editor prepares at least two pages every day, a tiring task by any standard. He is a man I know can be calm in a crisis and has coped with his job well so far.

Sitting one desk away from him is a cub reporter who is reaching the end of her internship.

She works for our weekly Business Focus section, one of its kind among Korea’s English-language newspapers, launched in March last year.

Across the aisle is the Culture/Sport Department.

We owe its editor, a former political editor, and sports writers for the recent extensive Olympic coverage. The editor is not seen at her desk, already having finished her pages.

She is an outgoing character whose trademark laugh one can’t help finding infectious.

Sitting close to the aisle in the department is a music specialist who has written on the day’s important news, the death of Unification Church founder Rev. Moon Sun-myung. I hope I hear her sing someday.

Our design/photo section is located in a corner next to the culture/sport desk. Our designer’s work can be seen in an article on the popularity rating changes of Park Geun-hye and Ahn Cheol-soo on Page 4.

Our weekend front page illustration and photo essay are also produced by this section.

Last but not least, our New Media Section is located in the opposite corner.

Check The Korea Times website on www.koreatimes.co.kr and view their work. By the way, we will unveil an overhauled website soon.

There are two veteran journalists in this department who have worked for most of their lives for English-language newspapers. Their keen sense of what’s news and what’s not convinces me that this business is not just about youthful energy but perhaps more about experience.

Another integral part of our paper is our copy editors, who serve as our guide to make our paper feel, well, more international and accessible. At this hour of the day, one can almost feel the heat coming from this department that is working extra hard to edit the last articles.

I have made a belated introduction to our staff and how they work on a given day in order to bring us closer to our readers.

As a managing editor, with this team, I feel The Korea Times can do almost anything to satisfy our readers’ needs for the delivery of accurate news and diverse opinions. I am certain that you, the readers, will soon be able to share my confidence. <The Korea Times/Oh Young-jin>

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