By Kwon Mee-yoo
U.S. President Barack Obama expressed gratitude to an association for giving him a Korean name.
Suh Jin-sub, chairman of the ROK-US Alliance Friendship Association (AFA), said he received a letter of appreciation, Thursday, some five months after sending the U.S. leader a scroll and a tablet bearing his Korean name O Han-ma.
U.S. President Obama thanked the AFA for "the wonderful gift." "As our world grows increasingly interdependent, I look forward to working together to the benefit of our two nations, and to strengthening bonds between our people," Obama said in the letter.
The association created the Korean family name of the U.S. President by taking the first letter of his last name. The name Han-ma, comes from Obama's middle name Hussein and the last syllable of his last name.
They have given other important figures Korean names to promote friendship between the two countries. The list of people includes former U.S. military commander in Korea Leon LaPorte (Na Bo-tae), former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (Na I-su), current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Han Hui-suk) and former U.S. ambassador to Korea Alexander Vershbow (Park Bo-u).