2006年VOA标准英语-Japan, US Issue Fresh Warning to North Korea ab

By Steve Herman
Tokyo
17 June 2006 

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Scheiffer, right, with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro¹ Aso, June 17, 2006  
  
Japanese and American diplomats² are jointly³ warning North Korea not to launch a ballistic missile, amid growing speculation⁴ Pyongyang may be about to test fire one. South Korean news reports quote visiting North Korean officials as denying a test is planned.

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Japan's foreign minister and the U.S. ambassador in Tokyo held a 30-minute meeting late Saturday to discuss what actions their governments would likely take, if North Korea test fires a ballistic missile.

Japanese and South Korea media report that liquid fuel tanks have been observed at a North Korean site and booster rockets are on the launch pad.

For more than a week, Japanese and U.S. government officials have expressed increasing concern that the communist state is readying a launch of a Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missile. Published reports in Tokyo and Seoul say a launch could come as early as Sunday.

U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer, following his Saturday night meeting with Japan's foreign minister, told reporters there are indeed indications Pyongyang is preparing to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile.

"We hope that the North Koreans will not take this provocative⁵ action," he said.  "It will only isolate⁶ the North Koreans further from the rest of the internationalcommunity."

The ambassador added that, if North Korea does launch the missile, all options are on the table a reference to the possibility of sanctions being imposed on Pyongyang.

North Korea has previously⁷ said it would consider any sanctions imposed by Japan tantamount to a declaration of war.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said both Washington and Tokyo are urgently trying to convey to Pyongyang that it must back away from a launch. 

Aso says Tokyo is relaying its concerns through Chinese diplomats, while the United States is using the "New York channel," a reference to communication with North Korea's diplomats at the United Nations. Neither Japan nor the United States has diplomatic relations with North Korea.

If North Korea launches a missile, that would end a seven-year moratorium⁸ on long-range testing that North Korea imposed on itself.

Analysts⁹ say North Korea, in an effort to dispel¹⁰ international condemnation¹¹, may claim that the launch of the three-stage rocket is to deploy¹² a satellite. It made a similar statement after its 1998 missile test, but U.S. intelligence agencies and other space watchers say no such satellite made it into orbit.

1 taro   

n.芋，芋头

参考例句：

• Main grain crop has taro,corn,banana to wait.主要粮食作物有芋头、玉米、芭蕉等。
• You celebrate your birthday with taro,red bean and butter.用红豆、芋头和黄油给自己过生日。

2 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

4 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

5 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。

6 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

7 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

8 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

9 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

10 dispel   

vt.驱走，驱散，消除

参考例句：

• I tried in vain to dispel her misgivings.我试图消除她的疑虑，但没有成功。
• We hope the programme will dispel certain misconceptions about the disease.我们希望这个节目能消除对这种疾病的一些误解。

11 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。

12 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。