VOA标准英语10月-South Korea Says US Deal With North Means Nuclear

South Korea is welcoming a compromise between the United States and North Korea on inspecting the North's nuclear facilities. The deal removes North Korea from a U.S. list of suspected terrorism sponsors. As Seoul Correspondent Kurt Achin reports, South Korea says it paves the way for the North to resume disabling its nuclear facilities.

South Korea is welcoming a new compromise between the United States and North Korea aimed at making the North's nuclear activities more transparent¹ to the international community.
　

Kim Sook, speaks during a press conference at the Foreign Ministry2 in Seoul, South Korea, 12 Oct 2008

Kim Sook, the chief South Korean envoy³ to multinational⁴ nuclear talks with the North, told reporters in Seoul Sunday his government welcomes the deal as an opportunity that gets the six-nation nuclear talks back on track, and leads to North Korea's eventual⁵ abandonment of its nuclear programs.

As part of a multiple stage agreement with Japan, the United States, South Korea, China, and Russia, Pyongyang spent the first half of the year actively⁶ disabling its main nuclear facility in Yongbyon. It also submitted a declaration of its nuclear activities, limited mainly to Yongbyon's plutonium production.

However, when North Korea refused to agree to a plan for confirming the declaration's truthfulness⁷, President Bush delayed the promised removal of the North from a State Department list of nations suspected of sponsoring terrorism. Pyongyang responded angrily by vowing⁸ to resume Yongbyon's operations, then barring international inspectors⁹ from conducting their usual surveillance of the site. North Korea maintained the terror list removal was entirely¹⁰ separate from the verification talks, and threatened to begin reprocessing nuclear fuel into material useable for weapons.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill traveled to Pyongyang earlier this month as part of a diplomatic push to overcome the disagreement. U.S. officials announced the compromise in Washington Saturday, simultaneously¹¹ removing North Korea from the terror list. Washington says inspectors will have access to all of North Korea's declared nuclear sites as well as access "based on mutual¹² consent" to undeclared sites.

South Korea's Kim Sook says the success of the deal will depend on cooperation from Pyongyang.

He says North Korea will need to work with international inspectors on logistical issues such as selecting sites, providing transportation, and making information available.

Not everyone is celebrating the U.S. - North Korea deal. Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa, speaking on the sidelines of credit crisis talks in Washington, called the deal "extremely regrettable." Japanese officials have said North Korea should remain on the U.S. terror sponsors list until it fully¹³ accounts for Japanese citizens abducted¹⁴ in the past by North Korean agents.

Backers of a stringent¹⁵ North Korea policy are also not pleased. Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton calls the verification compromise "pathetic," and says it does not compel North Korea to be sufficiently¹⁶ forthcoming about its nuclear capabilities¹⁷.

1 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

6 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

7 truthfulness   

n. 符合实际

参考例句：

• Among her many virtues are loyalty, courage, and truthfulness. 她有许多的美德，如忠诚、勇敢和诚实。
• I fired a hundred questions concerning the truthfulness of his statement. 我对他发言的真实性提出一连串质问。

8 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

9 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》

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

12 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

13 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。

14 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

15 stringent   

adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的

参考例句：

• Financiers are calling for a relaxation of these stringent measures.金融家呼吁对这些严厉的措施予以放宽。
• Some of the conditions in the contract are too stringent.合同中有几项条件太苛刻。

16 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

17 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