Choi was CICI founder and emeritus professor of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Choi Jung-wha speaks during an awards ceremony held at the French Embassy in Seodaemun-gu, on May 14, 2026. (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald) Choi Jung-wha, the first Korean to work as an international conference interpreter and a decades-long champion of the country's image abroad, died Sunday of breast cancer. She was 70.She built her career on the conviction that Korea could be explained to the world — and did much of the explaining herself. She interpreted for a succession of South Korean presidents, oversaw more than 1,800 international conferences, and in 2003 founded the Corea Image Communication Institute to shape how the country was seen overseas. Through CICI she organized cultural forums, published books and ran a YouTube channel, all aimed at elevating Korea's global image.Born in Seoul on Oct. 16, 1955, Choi graduated at the top of her French class at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in 1978, then studied at the School of Interpreters and Translators in Paris. She became the first Korean international conference interpreter in 1981 and, in 1986, the first person in Asia to earn a doctorate in interpretation and translation. She joined Hankuk's Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation as a professor in 1988, teaching there for more than three decades until retiring with emeritus status in 2021. She served as secretary general of the Korea-France Club from 2015. French Ambassador to Korea Philippe Bertoux (left) bestows the Officer of the Legion of Honor to Choi Jung-wha during an awards ceremony held at the French Embassy in Seodaemun-gu, on May 14, 2026. (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald) France twice honored her efforts to strengthen ties between the two countries, awarding her the Legion of Honor at the rank of Chevalier in 2003 — the first Korean woman to be so recognized — and raising her to Officier in 2025.Choi wrote three books in French — "Parlons coreen" ("Let's speak Korean"), "K-Style" and "Une grenouille dans son puits" ("A frog in its well") — along with several in Korean.She is survived by her husband, Didier Beltoise, president and CEO of Cs.A wake is being held at Samsung Medical Center in Ilwon-dong, southern Seoul. The funeral procession departs at 7 a.m. on June 17."What's important is not the destination but the journey," she said after being awarded the Officer of the Legion of Honor at the French Embassy on May 14, 2026. "Along that journey, I met many of you who are dear to me, experienced diverse cultures and discovered the meaning of my life."