The premise that the USDA avoided calling this the Northern Asian Giant Hornet to avoid the implication that this came from North Korea seems quite absurd to me.
Huh? The North Korea confusion angle was raised to explain why they might not have called it the Northern Asian Giant Hornet to distinguish it from the Southern Asian variety. That's what I'm responding to, nested in the thread.
In a better world, it would be absurd. But America has quite a few no-excuse-is-too-weak xenophobes, who have a documented history of violence against random strangers, for the "crime" of looking "Asian".
That could explain why they don't want to call it Asian, but not why they would want to avoid an implication that it came from North Korea specifically.
I'm not paying close attention here, but the "because North Korea..." seems like a useful diversion, if your goals look like:
1 - Announce the seeming eradication of a dangerous invasive species
2 - While minimizing "any excuse" xenophobic human nastiness related to saying "Asian"
3 - And disguise your second goal, to minimize accusations of "pro-Asian Wokery" (or whatever phrase the nut jobs on that side of the culture wars are currently using) from your #2
4 - Also minimize left-wing backlash (I've no clue what phrases they'd use) to your #3 scheme
But that "ridiculous theory" was part of the stated motivation of the person who authored the submission for the new name.
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Furthermore, anti-Asian sentiment and hate crimes have risen during the COVID-19 pandemic, Looney notes, and labeling an invasive species perceived negatively as “Asian” can be harmful all around.
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