VOA常速英语2007年-S. Korea Calls for 'Flexibility' as N. Korea Nu

By Kurt Achin
Seoul
06 December 2007

South Korea is calling for "flexibility¹" in the amount and type of information North Korea is due to release about its nuclear programs. Six-nation talks on the North's programs are unlikely to reconvene as expected this month, in an apparent snag over what should be included in the North Korean declaration. As VOA's Kurt Achin reports, a sense of urgency is building among officials in the South Korean capital.

A spokesman for South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said Thursday that Seoul would like to see six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear capabilities² reconvene "as soon as possible."

The talks, involving the two Koreas, China, Russia, Japan and the United States, were widely expected to resume in the Chinese capital this month. The next topic of business for the talks is to review a declaration by Pyongyang of all its nuclear facilities, weapons, and materials - the latest step in a multi-stage agreement aimed at dismantling³ North Korea's nuclear capabilities altogether.

However, South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon warned Thursday that the talks now run the risk of falling apart. He says the six-nation dialogue "sits at a very critical juncture⁴ of stably moving ahead or being crippled."

Song says the dialogue partners were aiming for the end of the year as a deadline for a formal review of the North's nuclear declaration. Now, he says the six parties will have to show "flexibility."

Song was quoted in local media as saying the United States is ready to move ahead in the talks, and the process will move forward as soon as North Korea builds some confidence and "admits what it has done in the past."

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the senior U.S. delegate to the six party talks, says Washington has "very good evidence" North Korea obtained uranium enrichment equipment and technology from Pakistan. Hill says North Korea's declaration must account for Pyongyang's uranium-related activities, which the North has never publicly admitted.

Hill said North Korea must submit at least a draft declaration by the end of the year.

Dan Pinkston, North Asia analyst⁵ for the International Crisis Group, says North Korea's apparent reluctance⁶ to admit to the uranium-based program may be holding up the declaration.

"I think on the uranium enrichment side there's a lot of explaining to do, and they can't dismiss a lot of the procurement⁷ activities in the past," he said.

Hill was in North Korea earlier this week for a visit to the North's main nuclear facility at Yongbyon, which Pyongyang has been disabling as part of the six-nation diplomacy⁸.

Experts say even if the North's nuclear production facilities are dismantled⁹, however, it will be difficult to account for and destroy all of its existing stocks of nuclear materials and weapons.

Apart from the nuclear diplomacy, North-South Korean ties have been moving forward briskly. South Korea's Unification Ministry¹⁰ confirmed Thursday that the South has completed a transfer of 400,000 tons of rice to the impoverished¹¹ North.

North-South cargo¹² trains are expected to begin rolling next week through the North Korean city of Kaesong, where hundreds of South Koreans also began scheduling package tours this week. High-level inter-Korean talks to advance a wide range of new North-South projects are wrapping up here in Seoul Thursday.

1 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

2 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

4 juncture   

n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头

参考例句：

• The project is situated at the juncture of the new and old urban districts.该项目位于新老城区交界处。
• It is very difficult at this juncture to predict the company's future.此时很难预料公司的前景。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

7 procurement   

n.采购；获得

参考例句：

• He is in charge of the procurement of materials.他负责物资的采购。
• More and more,human food procurement came to have a dominant effect on their evolution.人类获取食物愈来愈显著地影响到人类的进化。

8 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

9 dismantled   

拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消

参考例句：

• The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
• The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。

10 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。

11 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。