VOA常速英语2007年-S. Korea Cites 'Unique' Relations With North in

By Kurt Achin
Seoul
21 November 2007

Advocacy groups are criticizing South Korea for abstaining² from a United Nations resolution that expressed concern over human rights abuses in North Korea. The South's decision to abstain¹ comes a year after Seoul supported a nearly identical measure. But as VOA's Kurt Achin reports from the South Korean capital, South Korean authorities find themselves in a delicate position this year.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry³ spokesman, Cho Hee-young, says his country's decision to abstain from the U.N. human rights resolution needs to be seen in a broader context. He says Seoul did not participate in the vote "in consideration of North-South Korean relations."

The resolution, which was passed by a United Nations human rights panel Tuesday, expresses "very serious concern" about reports of human rights abuses in the North.

Pyongyang has refused for years to allow a special U.N. researcher to enter the country. Nevertheless, U.N. authorities say there is credible⁴ evidence of widespread abuses by the North, including torture, forced abortion⁵, and sentencing of entire families to labor⁶ camps for even minor⁷ political crimes.

South Korea supported a nearly identical U.N. measure last year, at a very tense moment. Just weeks earlier, North Korea had conducted its first nuclear weapons test, despite warnings from around the globe not to do so.

But relations between the two Koreas have warmed since then, as Pyongyang has demonstrated cooperation with multinational⁸ efforts to end its nuclear weapons programs. Last month, the second meeting of the leaders of the two Koreas, which are still technically⁹ at war, took place in the North Korean capital.

Officials are now working out details of a new range of North-South joint¹⁰ projects. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun says he is hoping for a formal declaration of inter-Korean peace in the near future, more than 57 years after the North invaded the South.

Since the North began preliminary steps to end its nuclear programs, South Korea has resumed a policy of aid and cooperation with Pyongyang that began after the first inter-Korean summit in 2000. It has also avoided any comments that might irritate North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

Kay Seok, Seoul-based spokeswoman for the advocacy group Human Rights Watch, says regardless of political developments, South Korea is wrong to send an inconsistent message about the North's abuses.

"On North Korea, there's really no dispute that the human rights situation is really abysmal," she says, "and countries should not... abstain from a human rights resolution based on other political reasons."

Park Sang-hak, a North Korean defector who heads a group advocating democracy in the North, is also disappointed by Seoul's turnaround. He says it is an insult to the North Korean people that South Korea treats their freedom and human rights as a matter of politics.

The human rights resolution is scheduled to be voted on by the full U.N. General Assembly in the near future.

1 abstain   

v.自制，戒绝，弃权，避免

参考例句：

• His doctor ordered him to abstain from beer and wine.他的医生嘱咐他戒酒。
• Three Conservative MPs abstained in the vote.三位保守党下院议员投了弃权票。

2 abstaining   

戒（尤指酒），戒除( abstain的现在分词 )； 弃权（不投票）

参考例句：

• Abstaining from killing, from taking what is not given, & from illicIt'sex. 诸比丘！远离杀生，远离不与取，于爱欲远离邪行。
• Abstaining from arguments was also linked to an unusual daily cortisol pattern. 压抑争吵也造成每日异常的皮质醇波动。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

5 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

8 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

9 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

10 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。