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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, mander 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。

据韩美联谊协会介绍，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“、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。

Vocabulary:

impasse:僵局