US General Adopts Korean Name

Koreans always want to know if I have a Korean name.  I tell them my name is 한솔로.  They do not get the joke, and for those who cannot read Hangeul, that says Han Solo.  This, to me, is a very Korean sounding name with Han being a common family name and the total name being three syllables and three characters.  But, alas, it is not a real name in Korean.

Source:

Maj. Gen. Edward Cardon, commander of the United States Army’s 2nd Infantry Division in Korea, adopted a Korean nickname as a gesture of friendship to Korea on April 20 

Cardon adopted the name Choi Min-ho at a reception in Seoul hosted by the Korean-American Friendship Association (KAFA), in which about 100 members of the American Taekwondo Association visited from Little Rock, Arkansas. 

In the reception attended by over a hundred U.S. service members, Suh Jin-sup, 81, chairman of KAFA presented a certificate to Cardon, which illustrated the special importance of his new name. 

The meaning of the name “Min-ho” carries symbolic significance of “protecting the peace and prosperity of the Korean people,” according to a press release by KAFA. 

Some 10,000 soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division are almost all based in a northern region between the capital of Seoul and the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). 

U.S. President Barack Obama has adopted the name Oh Han-ma and U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has been given the name Han Hee-sook.

Why do Koreans insist on doing this to everyone?  When Lee Myeung Bak or Ban Ki Moon visit Washington, we do not insist on giving them local names like David Johnson and Larry Smith.