2007年VOA标准英语-US Talks with North Korea Move Forward

By Kane Farabaugh
New York City
08 March 2007
 
watch report on US/North Korea Talks

The United States and North Korea held a first round of historic talks in New York earlier this week aimed at establishing normalized, diplomatic relations between the two countries.  The U.S. negotiator, Ambassador Christopher Hill, is upbeat about the nature of the discussions.  He also admits the hardest part -- verifying that North Korea is dismantling² its plutonium production capabilities³ -- is still ahead.  VOA's Kane Farabaugh has more from New York.

It is the first stage of an agreement between North Korea and the United States to hold discussions that could bring about an end to North Korea's nuclear weapons capability⁴.  The talks are also a chance to discuss a formal end to the 1950-1953 Korean War, and normalized, diplomatic relations between two former enemies. 

Christopher Hill (16 Feb 2007)

The talks are a historic step forward for two countries whose relations have been anything but friendly in recent memory. But U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Christopher Hill says the hardest part is yet to come. "This process that we're on, you know, is not unlike a video game -- it gets more and more difficult as you go into more and more levels."

The next level of discussions between the two countries is aimed at verifying that North Korea is shutting down its Yongbyong nuclear reactor⁵ and allowing International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors⁶ to return to the site.  North Korea gets 50,000 tons of fuel oil by satisfying these requirements.

North Korea would also receive close to one million tons of fuel oil as well as other economic and humanitarian⁷ assistance should it provide a list of its declared nuclear sites.

Ambassador Hill says he is pleased with the current stage of discussions, but he says he is cautiously waiting for results. "The DPRK is still producing plutonium, so I think it's a little premature⁸ to be cracking out the champagne⁹ or doing any victory laps here; so let's see how we do."

More six-party talks involving Japan, China, Russia, North Korea, South Korea and the United States are scheduled for next week in Beijing.  Further bilateral¹⁰ talks between North Korea and the United States are planned prior to that meeting. 

As negotiations¹¹ move forward in dismantling North Korea's Yongbyong reactor, the United States faces another nuclear standoff with Iran.  When asked by reporters about the lessons Iran can learn from the current discussions with North Korea, Ambassador Hill said there is no "one size fits all" solution.  He did underscore that North Korea paid a heavy price for its nuclear development.

"Nuclear weapons have not been a very good experience for North Korea.  I think North Korea has been left more isolated¹² than ever before, more impoverished¹³ than ever before.  If you look back at the history of North Korea's economy, you can see that these nuclear weapons have done nothing for North Korea -- absolutely nothing.  And I do hope that people in Iran take note of that fact.  When you say that North Korea is being treated better I'm not sure that's the view in North Korea.  I think they have very, very serious problems and all of their problems, I would say, is traced to their mentality¹⁴ that has them building weapons of mass destruction."

Hours after the first round of talks in New York ended, North Korean and Japanese diplomats¹⁵ met in Hanoi, Vietnam to discuss similar goals between their two countries.

One Japanese diplomat¹ said those talks broke down after the first morning session because of North Korea's anger over questions about the abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korean agents.

1 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

2 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。

3 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

4 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

5 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

6 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

8 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

9 champagne   

n.香槟酒；微黄色

参考例句：

• There were two glasses of champagne on the tray.托盘里有两杯香槟酒。
• They sat there swilling champagne.他们坐在那里大喝香槟酒。

10 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

11 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

12 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

13 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》

14 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。

15 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》