NYT: Pompeo got North Korean leader’s name wrong

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo incorrectly referred to North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un as “Chairman Un” in brief comments to reporters this week in Hong Kong ahead of his meeting with the reclusive leader, according to a report in The New York Times. 

The North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, should be referred to as Chairman Kim, since that is his family name.

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Korean first names are used after their family names, though the Times noted that North Korea and South Korea are different in that in South Korea, first names also typically include a hyphen.  

Pompeo reportedly mangled Kim’s title while on board a flight to Japan, when he sought to explain that the U.S. was starting “to put some outlines around the substance of the agenda for the summit between the president and Kim Jong Un.”

Pompeo, the former director of the CIA, visited the North Korean leader in person over Easter, as he laid the groundwork for an upcoming in-person meeting between Kim and President Trump. 

The secretary landed in North Korea again on Wednesday, and is expected to return to the U.S. with three Americans currently imprisoned, in addition to details on the president’s meeting. 

The Times noted that Pompeo’s slip-up drew some criticism online from observers who believed it could lead to offense in North Korea. It also described the mistake as surprising given Pompeo’s time at the CIA, if understandable given confusion over North Korean names.