2006年VOA标准英语-North Koreans in Japan Demand Halt to Sanctions

By Steve Herman
Tokyo
09 November 2006
 
A de facto spokesman in Tokyo for North Korea says Pyongyang now regards Japan as the most hostile nation in the world. The spokesman also says ethnic¹ Koreans affiliated² with the North have increasingly been threatened following Pyongyang's provocative³ weapons tests this year. 

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The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon, has long been regarded as North Korean's de facto embassy in Japan.  

		So Chung On of Chongryon

So Chung On, the head of the association's international affairs bureau, told reporters Thursday that since Pyongyang tested a barrage⁴ of missiles in July and a nuclear weapon in October, there have been nearly 200 incidents targeting Koreans or their property in Japan.

He says ethnic Koreans have been receiving threatening telephone calls and e-mails, and students of North Korean schools have been physically⁵ attacked or verbally abused. He also says North Korean-affiliated facilities have been the targets of arson⁶ attacks and vandalism.

So complained that his group's members, many of whom were born in Japan, are under surveillance by public security officials, and he likened them to hostages of the Japanese government.

"The Japanese government is trying to take them as hostages for bargaining with North Korean authorities," said So.

Such rhetoric⁷ is likely to find little sympathy among the Japanese. People here still do not believe North Korea has provided full details about the fate of Japanese that Pyongyang admits were kidnapped by its agents during the Cold War.

So, speaking to reporters on Thursday, repeated the North Korean government assertion that all Japanese abducted⁸ by North Korea, who are still alive, have been returned to Japan.

Ethnic Koreans in today's Japan are mainly descendants of those forcibly brought here during the first half of the 20th century, when Japan colonized⁹ Korea. They are generally divided between those who support South Korea, and those who are linked to the North.

Japan has never established diplomatic relations with North Korea, and Chongryon, So's organization, has long been treated as Pyongyang's quasi-official representation here.

Some one hundred Koreans, allied¹⁰ with Pyongyang, began a sit-in Wednesday in front of Japan's parliament. They are demanding Tokyo lift punitive¹¹ sanctions imposed on North Korea in wake of last month's nuclear test.

So defended that test, which provoked international condemnation¹² and prompted a United Nations Security Council resolution imposing¹³ sanctions. So said he hoped the North Korean nuclear weapon would lead to the abolishment of all such weapons worldwide.

He said the sanctions have caused inconvenience for Koreans wanting to travel to and from North Korea. But he told reporters North Korea itself has been little affected¹⁴, because the government foresaw declining trade with Japan as far back as 2002, when North Korean leader Kim Jong Il first admitted his forces had kidnapped Japanese citizens.

So says since that time, North Korea has taken its business elsewhere.

"They changed the route," added So. "They developed the route for other countries, including China, South Korea, Russia or Western Europe."

Chongryon operates schools, financial institutions, newspapers and other business enterprises in Japan. The group once held strong ideological¹⁵ sway over hundreds of thousands of Koreans in Japan, but with more Koreans integrating into Japanese society and becoming disillusioned¹⁶ with Pyongyang, the organization's influence has been declining.

1 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

2 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

3 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

4 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

5 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

6 arson   

n.纵火，放火

参考例句：

• He was serving a ten spot for arson.他因纵火罪在服十年徒刑。
• He was arraigned on a charge of arson.他因被指控犯纵火罪而被传讯。

7 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

8 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

9 colonized   

开拓殖民地，移民于殖民地( colonize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The area was colonized by the Vikings. 这一地区曾沦为维京人的殖民地。
• The British and French colonized the Americas. 英国人和法国人共同在美洲建立殖民地。

10 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

11 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

12 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

13 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

14 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

15 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

16 disillusioned   

a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的

参考例句：

• I soon became disillusioned with the job. 我不久便对这个工作不再抱幻想了。
• Many people who are disillusioned in reality assimilate life to a dream. 许多对现实失望的人把人生比作一场梦。