Lippert's newborn baby gets Korean name

By Yi Whan-woo

U.S. Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert has given his newborn son a Korean middle name, christening him James Williams Sejun Lippert, the embassy said Thursday.

Sejun is composed of two Chinese characters ― “Se” means being clean and honest, while “Jun” means being excellent.

“The two words together mean become an exceptional person as a result of leading an honest and clean life,” the embassy said in an e-mail statement. The name is not uncommon among Koreans.

Sejun was born Tuesday here and the ambassador tweeted his son’s name the following day.

Lippert had said on social networking sites that that the full name of his son will be decided after the “saju process.” Saju is an old fortunetelling method that originated from China and is still popular here.

This is the first time a U.S. ambassador has had a child in Korea.

Washington’s top envoy to Seoul arrived here on Oct. 30 to assume his position. He came with his wife, Robyn, who was pregnant.

The ambassador has participated in various cultural and sports activities since his arrival.

He watched the blockbuster film, “Ode to My father,” and also a Korean baseball playoff game in December.

Lippert, 41, is Washington’s youngest ambassador to serve in Korea.

He previously held senior positions in the U.S. Department of Defense from May 2012 to September 2014.

His jobs there included chief of staff to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs.