VOA标准英语2009年-North Korea Fires Short Range Missiles as

A third round of talks over an embattled joint¹ industrial zone between North and South Korea has produced no progress. The North apparently² launched several short range missiles into the ocean even as South Korean delegates were making their journey back from the North's territory.
　
S. Korean chief delegate Kim Young-tak, before leaving Kaesong at transit³ office in Paju, near border village of the Panmunjom, 02 Jul 2009

Reports of the latest North Korean missile launches came Thursday via South Korea's Yonhap news agency. The report said North Korea fired two short range missiles off its east coast between 5:20 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. local time.

That is about when North and South Korean delegates were wrapping up another round of unsuccessful talks about the Kaesong Industrial complex, located near the North Korean border city of the same name.

Military analysts⁴ say such short-range launches pose no serious regional threat, and are fairly routine for North Korea. However, Pyongyang's long-range missile test in April, nuclear weapons test in May, and almost daily stream of hostile rhetoric⁵ have raised tension in the northeast Asia.

North and South Korean delegates met in Kaesong to discuss the five-year-old joint industrial complex, where South Korean enterprises employ about 40,000 North Korean factory workers.

Kim Yong-tak, head of the South Korean delegation⁶, says he revisited the issue of a detained South Korean executive known by his surname, Yu.

He says the South called on North Korea to provide information about Yu's health and his location. The North, he says, did not provide any response.
　
Tourists walk past a showroom sign at Kaesong Complex in Paju near the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas (file photo)

Yu, a manager in the Kaesong zone, has been detained for three months, isolated⁷ from other South Koreans. He is accused of making inflammatory comments about the North's political leaders, and possibly encouraging a female North Korean worker to defect.

Kim says the North Korean side simply repeated demands it made after canceling contracts for the zone in May.

Pyongyang is demanding the South more than triple workers' pay, and raise rental⁸ payments by a factor of 30. South Korean business operators say those kinds costs would make Kaesong a bad investment, compared with setting up factories in Vietnam or China.

1 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。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

4 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。

5 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

6 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

7 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。

8 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。