Friday, December 23, 2011

about that name

People are noting that Kim Jong-il's Russian name is Yuri Irsenovich Kim. The only parts of that name that are really Russian are the "Yuri" and the "-ovich." That suffix means "son of," which makes Irsenovich "son of Irsen." Tweak the pronunciation of Irsen a bit, and you'll see that it's a bastardization (or Sinicization) of Il-sung.

Speaking of Yuri Irsenovich, you might want to read Adrian Hong's (optimistic?) article on how to free North Korea.


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