A third round of talks over an embattled joint industrial zone between North and South Korea has produced no progress. The North apparently launched several short range missiles into the ocean even as South Korean delegates were making their journey back from the North's territory.
韩国和北韩就联合经济区出现争议而进行的第三论会谈没有任何进展。与此同时，北韩在韩国代表返回韩国的时候向海上发射数枚短程导弹。
Reports of the latest North Korean missile launches came Thursday via South Korea's Yonhap news agency. The report said North Korea fired two short range missiles off its east coast between 5:20 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. local time.
关于北韩最新导弹发射的最早报导星期四由韩国联合通讯社发布。报导说北韩从东部沿海地区在晚上5点20分到6点之间共发射两枚短程导弹。
That is about when North and South Korean delegates were wrapping up another round of unsuccessful talks about the Kaesong Industrial complex, located near the North Korean border city of the same name.
这正好是韩国和北韩代表结束开城工业园新一轮谈判的时候。这个在北韩边境城市开城进行的谈判没有取得成果。
Military analysts say such short-range launches pose no serious regional threat, and are fairly routine for North Korea. However, Pyongyang's long-range missile test in April, nuclear weapons test in May, and almost daily stream of hostile rhetoric have raised tension in the northeast Asia.
军事分析人士认为，发射这种短程导弹不会对地区安全构成威胁，应该只是北韩的例行发射。但是，平壤四月测试的远程导弹，五月进行的核试验，和几乎每天都有的敌对广播，加剧了东北亚的紧张局势。
North and South Korean delegates met in Kaesong to discuss the five-year-old joint industrial complex, where South Korean enterprises employ about 40,000 North Korean factory workers.
韩国和北韩代表在开城讨论这个已经运作5年的联合工业园。韩国企业在这里雇用了4万名北韩工人。
Kim Yong-tak, head of the South Korean delegation, says he revisited the issue of a detained South Korean executive known by his surname, Yu.
韩国代表团团长金泳卓说，他再次提起被扣押的柳姓韩国雇员。
He says the South called on North Korea to provide information about Yu's health and his location. The North, he says, did not provide any response.
他说，韩国要求北韩提供这位雇员的健康和扣押地点。北韩没有任何回应。
Yu, a manager in the Kaesong zone, has been detained for three months, isolated from other South Koreans. He is accused of making inflammatory comments about the North's political leaders, and possibly encouraging a female North Korean worker to defect.
这位在开城工业园工作的柳经理已经被北韩扣押三个月，不准接触任何韩国人。他被控抵毁北韩领导人，据怀疑他还鼓励一名北韩工人变节。
Kim says the North Korean side simply repeated demands it made after canceling contracts for the zone in May.
金泳卓说，北韩只是重复其五月取消工业园合同后的提出的要求。
Pyongyang is demanding the South more than triple workers' pay, and raise rental payments by a factor of 30. South Korean business operators say those kinds costs would make Kaesong a bad investment, compared with setting up factories in Vietnam or China.
平壤要求韩国提供3倍薪水给工人，并将租金提高三倍。韩国商人说这些成本将令开城工业园的投资和在越南和中国开厂相比，失去吸引力。 |