VOA标准英语2009年-North Korea Requests Rare Meeting With UN Comma

North Korea has met for the first time in years with senior officers in the United Nations Command that monitors the heavily armed border dividing the Korean peninsula. The meeting comes days before the scheduled start of US - South Korea military drills.
　
North Korean soldier stands guard at border village of Panmunjeom

The United Nations Command says it welcomed Monday's opportunity to hold discussions with North Korea, which hold the prospect¹ "for building trust and preventing misunderstandings between both sides."

The meeting took place Monday in Panmunjeom, the village straddling the heavily armed military demarcation line separating the two Koreas. It is where a 1953 armistice² was signed following North Korea's invasion of the South three years earlier. The U.N. Command, led by the United States, monitors the tense detente along the border established by the armistice in the absence of a permanent peace treaty.

Over the weekend, Pyongyang's official news agency warned the North would take "resolute³" action if U.S. forces continued what it calls "provocations⁴" in the Korean demilitarized zone. The North accuses American military personnel of venturing on a number of occasions close to the North's side of the the zone in order to photograph North Korean military installations. South Korean defense⁵ officials say the United Nations Command has only engaged in legitimate⁶ monitoring of the zone.

South Korean media quote defense officials in Seoul as saying North Korea used Monday's meeting to request a halt to scheduled military exercises between U.S. and South Korean forces. Pyongyang has frequently referred to the annual drills, due to start this week, as a rehearsal⁷ for invasion. U.S. and South Korean officials say the exercises are a purely⁸ defensive⁹ means of ensuring the alliance can defeat any aggressive moves by the North.

North Korea announced last week it would launch a "satellite," which U.S. and South Korean officials believe is a cover for plans to test a long-range missile possibly capable of reaching the United States. South Korean officials have repeatedly warned the launch would violate United Nations resolutions imposed after Pyongyang's 2006 long-range missile and nuclear tests.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called on North Korea Sunday to come to the talking table as soon as possible for an "unconditional¹⁰ conversation."

Mr. Lee says it is not North Korea's nuclear weapons that can protect it, but rather inter-Korean cooperation and international cooperation with other countries.

Newly appointed U.S. envoy¹¹ for North Korea policy Stephen Bosworth is expected to arrive in Seoul later this week in hopes of reviving regional talks to engage North Korea and get rid of its nuclear weapons capabilities¹² for good.

1 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

2 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。

3 resolute   

adj.坚决的，果敢的

参考例句：

• He was resolute in carrying out his plan.他坚决地实行他的计划。
• The Egyptians offered resolute resistance to the aggressors.埃及人对侵略者作出坚决的反抗。

4 provocations   

n.挑衅( provocation的名词复数 )；激怒；刺激；愤怒的原因

参考例句：

• We cannot ignore such provocations. 对于这种挑衅，我们不能置之不理。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They must immediately cease all their provocations. 他们必须停止一切挑衅。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

7 rehearsal   

n.排练，排演；练习

参考例句：

• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
• You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。

8 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。

9 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

10 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

11 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。

12 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