2007年VOA标准英语-US, Russian, Chinese Nuclear Experts to Visit N

By Paula Wolfson
Sydney
07 September 2007

A team of nuclear experts from the United States, China and Russia will go to North Korea next week to survey nuclear facilities that would be disabled if Pyongyang eventually agrees to abandon its nuclear weapons programs. VOA White House correspondent Paula Wolfson reports from Sydney, where the North Korean nuclear issue dominated talks between U.S. President George Bush and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.

Christopher Hill (file photo)

The chief U.S. envoy¹ to the six-nation North Korean nuclear disarmament talks, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, says the technical teams will go in at the invitation of the North Koreans.

"And the purpose is to do a survey of the sites that need to be disabled pursuant to our agreement," he said.

Hill said Friday that the site visits will be purely² technical in nature, and the nuclear experts will report back to the next meeting of the six countries negotiating the North Korean nuclear issue.

"It's a good step. We have to see what the results are," he said.

North Korea agreed in principle last February to reveal and disable all of its nuclear facilities, in return for food and energy aid, security guarantees, and diplomatic concessions³.

As a first step in that process, the North has already shut down its main nuclear facility, at Yongbyon. Hill, in Sydney in conjunction with this week's Asia Pacific summit meeting, said Yongbyon was one of the facilities that would be visited by the nuclear experts this month.

President Bush and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun shake hands at the end of their meeting in Sydney, 7 Sep 2007

President Bush said earlier Friday that if North Korean leader Kim Jong Il meets all obligations and gives up his nuclear programs, the way will be clear for a treaty formally ending the 1950-1953 Korean War.

"When the North Korean leader fully⁴ discloses and gets rid of his nuclear weapons programs...we can achieve a new security arrangement in the Korean peninsula...we can have the peace that we all long for," he said.

Mr. Bush spoke⁵ at the conclusion of a meeting here with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, at which North Korea was a major topic.

During a brief joint⁶ appearance before reporters, the South Korean president prodded⁷ Mr. Bush to clarify his statements, setting off a rather awkward public exchange.

"I think I might be wrong," he said. "I think I did not hear President Bush mention a declaration to end the Korean War just now. Did you say so President Bush?"

Mr. Bush looked a bit puzzled, and then appeared annoyed. He repeated his desire to see a formal end to the Korean War, which ended with an armistice⁸ instead of a peace treaty.

"I could not be any more clear, Mr. President," said Mr. Bush. "We look forward to the day we can end the Korean War, and that will happen when Kim Jong Il verifiably gets rid of his weapons programs and his weapons."

U.S. officials later downplayed the incident, saying there was a problem with the translation from English to Korean. They said the meeting between the two men was warm, and there was no tension.

1 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

2 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

3 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 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。

7 prodded   

v.刺，戳( prod的过去式和过去分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳

参考例句：

• She prodded him in the ribs to wake him up. 她用手指杵他的肋部把他叫醒。
• He prodded at the plate of fish with his fork. 他拿叉子戳弄着那盘鱼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 armistice   

n.休战，停战协定

参考例句：

• The two nations signed an armistice.两国签署了停火协议。
• The Italian armistice is nothing but a clumsy trap.意大利的停战不过是一个笨拙的陷阱。