VOA常速英语2007-North Korean Prime Minister Visits Vietnam

By Matt Steinglass
Hanoi
29 October 2007

North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong Il ended his visit to Vietnam, where he traveled from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. Kim is responsible for running North Korea's economy, and is believed to want to apply lessons from Vietnam's economic reforms to North Korea's failing command economy. In Hanoi, Matt Steinglass has more.

Carp splashed for a meal Monday, as Prime Minister Kim Yong Il of North Korea tossed fish food into the pond in front of the small wooden house where Ho Chi Minh lived when he was President of Vietnam.

In the ceremonial visit Kim referred to the shared Communist roots of North Korea and Vietnam.

Kim said he hoped the two countries could take their historical friendship to a new level.

But the fish desperately¹ fighting for Kim's handouts² were an uncomfortable echo of the real reason for his visit: the failure of the North Korean command economy, which has made its people dependent on food aid from abroad.

Paul French is an expert on North Korea, and the director of the market research firm Access Asia. He says one reason for Kim's trip is the North Korean leadership's recognition that it needs to imitate the kinds of economic reforms that have made Vietnam's economy successful.

"There is this reform, technocratic³ element in North Korea that actually realizes they've got to do some reforms," he said. "At the moment, I think the reformers are probably feeling quite strong, and this is partly why Kim is undertaking⁴ these trips."

An earlier round of market-oriented reforms in North Korea failed in 2003. Financial sanctions imposed by the United States in 2006 over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program deepened the country's isolation⁵.

The U.S. lifted those sanctions in February after Pyongyang agreed to scrap⁶ its nuclear weapons program, reviving hopes of economic reform.

Kim's trip, which will take him from Vietnam to Malaysia, Cambodia and Laos, is aimed partly at learning lessons from export-oriented Asian economies.

French says Kim is also trying to curry⁷ favor with Southeast Asian countries in order to gain help from international lending institutions.

"They have to resolve this issue of dealing⁸ with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank and people like that," he said. "They're not going to get any serious private investment from investment banks, or from funds, or from anything, until what's called the catalyst⁹ lenders, like the World Bank, go in there and do it."

On Sunday, Kim visited a privatized coalmine near Haiphong, part of Vietnam's effort to bring foreign investment into its energy industry. Kim was also scheduled to travel to Ho Chi Minh City to visit an export-processing zone.

Kim's trip has provided Vietnam with a chance to exercise its growing international influence, says Duong Chinh Thuc, Vietnam's former ambassador to North Korea.

Thuc says Vietnam has long wanted to play a role as mediator¹⁰ between North Korea and the rest of the world.

1 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

2 handouts   

救济品( handout的名词复数 )； 施舍物； 印刷品； 讲义

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts. 士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Even after losing his job, he was too proud to accept handouts. 甚至在失去工作后，他仍然很骄傲，不愿接受施舍。

3 technocratic   

adj.由技术专家官员组成的；受技术官僚影响的

参考例句：

• But there is method in Europe's technocratic madness, the official went on. 但欧洲的专家政治论者的愤怒是有原因的，这个位官员接着说道。 来自互联网
• Mr Juppé was floored in part by his contemptuous, technocratic attitude towards union leaders. 朱佩对工会领导蛮横与不屑，是导致他一败涂地的部分原因。 来自互联网

4 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

5 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

6 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

7 curry   

n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革

参考例句：

• Rice makes an excellent complement to a curry dish.有咖喱的菜配米饭最棒。
• Add a teaspoonful of curry powder.加一茶匙咖喱粉。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 catalyst   

n.催化剂，造成变化的人或事

参考例句：

• A catalyst is a substance which speeds up a chemical reaction.催化剂是一种能加速化学反应的物质。
• The workers'demand for better conditions was a catalyst for social change.工人们要求改善工作条件促进了社会变革。

10 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。