VOA标准英语2008年-North Korea Nuclear Talks to Focus on Verificat

Negotiators from six nations are preparing to meet in Beijing for talks on eliminating North Korea's nuclear programs. Discussions will focus on how to verify that Pyongyang is not hiding any nuclear materials or facilities. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.

After nine months on hold, negotiators from China, the United States, North and South Korea, Japan, and Russia will gather Thursday in Beijing for three days of talks.

Negotiations¹ on steps to disarm² nuclear North Korea were halted while Pyongyang prepared a declaration of its nuclear materials. It handed over the list last month, allowing talks to move forward.

China's lead negotiator in the talks, Vice³ Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, said Wednesday he is optimistic they will make progress.

He says with the joint⁴ efforts of all the parties, the tree of the six-party talks is growing healthily, with its roots deepening, branches thickening and it has become very fruitful. He says they are going to have a meeting among heads of delegations⁵ and he hopes they can make the overall arrangements on how to implement⁶ the agreement reached in the second phase of the talks.

In the second phase, currently underway, North Korea must declare all its nuclear materials and facilities and disable its main reactor⁷. In return, it is to receive fuel aid and some sanctions against it will be lifted.
　
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill speaks to reporters at a hotel in Beijing (File)

The chief U.S. negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, says confirming North Korea's nuclear declaration and the disabling will be the main focus of the talks.

"Verification is the most important thing. We want to speed up the rate of disablement. Obviously the cooling tower is done, but we need to discharge the reactor," he said. "We hope we can pick up the pace to do that, and there's some other elements of disablement that we'd like to move more quickly on."

North Korea says it will not take further steps until it has received more of the promised aid and political incentives⁸.

Verifying the secretive government's nuclear disarmament will likely pose the biggest problem.

Although the authoritarian⁹ state agreed last year to give up its nuclear ambitions, Washington thinks North Korea has a secret uranium enrichment program, in addition to its declared plutonium one, as well as several nuclear bombs. Neither the uranium program nor the bombs were on Pyongyang's declaration.

Some North Korea political analysts¹⁰ say Pyongyang is not likely to turn over all its materials and will probably ask for more aid.

North Korea has for years relied on its nuclear build-up to squeeze aid from its neighbors and the United States.

The third and final phase of the agreement calls for Pyongyang to permanently¹¹ dismantle¹² all its nuclear facilities and hand over all nuclear materials.

In return, the U.S. would establish normal diplomatic relations with the North and a permanent peace treaty for the 1950s Korean War could be signed.

　

 

1 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。

2 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 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。

5 delegations   

n.代表团( delegation的名词复数 )；委托，委派

参考例句：

• In the past 15 years, China has sent 280 women delegations abroad. 十五年来，中国共派280批妇女代表团出访。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• The Sun Ray decision follows the federal pattern of tolerating broad delegations but insisting on safeguards. “阳光”案的判决仿效联邦容许广泛授权的做法，但又坚持保护措施。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

6 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

7 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。

8 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

10 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

11 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

12 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。