No matter how you write it, skating's Yuna Kim spells greatness

(Fans of South Korea's Yuna Kim show their transliterated support at the world championships while fans of Japan's Mao Asada do it in Japanese characters. Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)

I had a nice e-mail from a South Korean reader who suggested that the phonetic — or transliterated — spelling being used in English for his country's great figure skating star, Kim Yu-Na, was incorrect.

He said it should be Kim Yun-A or Kim Yeon-A because it is as much a pronunciation issue as a spelling issue, and there should not be a break after the "u'' sound.

I replied that the English-language media have taken the Yu-Na spelling from the way her name is listed by the International Skating Union.

But I figured it was time to do a little more research to make sure I respect Korean culture by getting it right, especially since I will be writing and saying this young woman's name frequently between now and the 2010 Olympics, where she will be a gold medal favorite based on her performances in winning the world title last week in Los Angeles.

First of all, I have chosen to write it with the family name (Kim) first because that is the Korean manner: family name, then given name. That also is the case in Chinese, but I eventually wrote the name of Chinese figure skating world champion Chen Lu as Lu Chen because she told U.S. media that was her preference for English usage.

I called the South Korean consulate in Chicago to check on the correct way to write Kim's given name, and this is what Lee Eun (who signed her e-mail Eun Lee) told me:

"According to her official website, the preferred spelling of her name is 'Yuna.'  Your reader was correct  in pointing out the subtle differences between 'Kim Yu-Na'  and 'Kim Yun-A'  (or 'Yeon-A') because her Korean name is pronounced 'Gim Yuhn Ah.' ''

(That pronunciation has a hard "G,'' like "gimmick,'' and a short "u,'' like "un.'')

"Having said that,''  Lee's e-mail continued, "Ms. Kim is a world-class athlete who is competing on an international level and may have made a conscious choice to make her name . . . easier for foreigners to understand and remember. The ISU lists her name as 'Yu-Na Kim' and so does NBC. I doubt it would have been written as such without the consent of her team.''

The same could apply to the order of the names, Lee said, suggesting it might be better to avoid confusion by putting the given name first.

So what would Ms. Lee's personal choice be for English use of her countrywoman's name?

"Yuna Kim.''

OK by me.

Now let's see if I can get everyone else to go along.

But, as Shakespeare might have said, a Yuna by another name, like Yu-Na or Yun-A, would skate as great.

— Philip Hersh

Comments

[Min-Gu Kim]

why don't you write about yesterday game?
you just say, what we called her. it doesn't matter.
i wanna know how wonderful show by Yeon-Ah Kim.
i wonder why do you write spelling. i don't understand what is your point.

[Sam]

Even her official webpage states her name as Yuna Kim...

[Kevin]

I'm Korean, and it doesn't and really shouldn't matter if a Korean name gets slightly distorted in the English world. God knows English names get COMPLETELY butchered in Korea. Take Tiger Woods for instance, his name is spelled and pronounced "TA-EE-GUH OO-ZUH" in Korean. How do you like that for transformation.

[Yoko]

US Media has been calling her "Yuna Kim" and now I watched NBC news and she was quoted as "Kim Yuna". I was quite confused which (Kim or Yuna) is her first and last name because media continues to call Mao Asada and Miki Ando with their first name first, last name second even if that is not the way it is in Japan. Why are they calling Yuna Kim Kim Yuna all of sudden?? It is quite confusing.

[Sandy]

Yuna Kim was asked how to properly say her name by Scott Russell of CBC during the GPF in Goyang City, Korea. It's on You Tube. And she said exactly this "when I am on the road I am Yuna Kim" and when I am in Korea I am "Gim Yun-Ah". I have to say I am impressed with how well she speaks English now. This is how she wants and it should be fine by all of us.

[J W]

While everybody is going goo-goo over Kim, I am predicting that Michelle Kwan will win the gold medal.Her quest for gold will end February 25,2010 in Vancouver in the greatest upset in Olympic history since the US Hockey team's" miracle on ice".

[hana]

I think Kim YU-NA is OK. YUNA is also using this name in her passportname. What is difference between YUNA and YOEN-A? Kim YU-NA is not a incerrect name.

I just enjoy US media use Kim YUNA instead of YU-NA KIM. That's our tradition family name before real name. Korean usually use other people's real names not like Japanese who usually use the familly name and especially if they used to call other's real name, that means they are very friendly one another and best friend.

[Sun]

I know this article date is on March, but I reply..
I'm Korean and this name "Yu-Na" is just mistake by airport.
When she issued a passport, the staff at airport typed wrong her name on a passport. And Usually in International Skating Union, skater's name are listed by their passport.
Her (infact not exact but close) Korean name Yeon-Ah (not Yun-A),but I didn't know how the staff typed her name "Yu-NA". I think maybe Kim Yu-NA wanted to write her name "
Yun-A", but the staff typed "-" between "YU" and "NA" not "YUN" and "A".
Anyway, it's difficult to write in English for Some Korean's name. Because English don't have Korean pronunciation a lot..

PS. It doesn't matter Yu-Na Kim or Kim Yu-Na. Of course, Koreans put their family name at first. It's same in China and Japan.. but some think that Yu-Na Kim is ok cuz it is written in English, others want to call Kim Yu-Na cuz it seems more respect Korea's way.

[Chung Jin-hoon]

"Kim Yu-na" is correct. (pronounced Gim Yeon-ah)
And also, the English letters in the third syllable of a Korean name should always be in lower case.

When the form of Asian names are confusing, you can always check the correct format from how they spell their president's name.
For example, the correct way to spell the South Korean president's name is Lee Myung-bak. It is never "Myung-bak Lee", "Myungbak Lee", "Lee Myung-Bak" etc.
Although English newspapers in Korea such as the Korea Herald and Korea Times have been using this form for quite a while now, many Koreans do not know the correct format to spell their names in English (because they would rarely need to write their names in English in Korea).

I think the media should respect the Korean way of spelling Kim Yu-na's name and pronounce the second syllable as "Yeon", not "you".