Rice gets floral nickname on SKorea visit

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was given a Korean nickname by South Korean admirers as she visited the nation Monday for the inauguration of President Lee Myung-Bak.

Rice was nicknamed Ra I-su, meaning "a pear flower with surpassing beauty," said the Korea-US Alliance Friendship Society.

"In creating her Korean name, we hope that South Korea and the United States will strengthen their alliance and partnership," its head Seo Jin-Seob said after delivering a paper inscribed with her name to the US embassy.

Ra was derived from "Rice" while I means "pear flower" and Su means "supreme". Together they signify a faithful and upright public servant who is respected by allies, Seo was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.

The society has given nicknames to other high-profile Americans as a mark of friendship.

US ambassador Alexander Vershbow was named "Park Bo-woo," interpreted as "everlasting friend of Koreans like treasure."

General Burwell Bell, commander of US forces in South Korea, was nicknamed "Baek Bo-guk," meaning the "defender of the country."

Rice left South Korea Tuesday for Beijing on the second leg of a regional tour aimed at breaking an impasse in nuclear negotiations with North Korea, a US embassy spokesman said.

美国国务卿康多莉扎·赖斯于本周一前往韩国参加新任总统李明博的就职仪式。赖斯访韩期间，她的韩国仰慕者们给她起了一个韩语昵称。

韩美联谊协会介绍，赖斯的韩语名为Ra I-su（罗梨秀），意思是“美丽至极的梨花”。

韩美联谊协会会长徐俊燮说：“我们给赖斯起韩语名是希望韩美两国能加强双边联盟和合作关系。”此前徐会长将一张印有赖斯昵称的纸交给了美国大使馆。

韩国联合通讯社援引徐会长的话说，Ra源自赖斯的名字“Rice”，I在韩语中表示“梨花”，Su的意思是“最高、至极”，合在一起即为“美丽至极的梨花”（“罗梨秀”），寓意赖斯是一位深受盟国尊重、忠诚正直的官员。

据悉，韩美联谊协会还给美国其他高层官员起过昵称，作为韩美两国友谊的象征。

美国驻韩大使亚历山大?弗什博的韩语名是“Park Bo-woo”（朴宝友），翻译为“如珍宝般珍贵的、韩国人民永远的朋友”；驻韩美军司令波维尔?贝尔的昵称是“Baek Bo-guk”，意思是“国家的卫士”。

美国大使馆一名发言人称，赖斯于本周二离开韩国，前往北京开始其第二阶段的地区访问。赖斯此行旨在打破朝核问题会谈的僵局。