美国有线新闻 CNN 朝韩将举行高级别会谈 迈出局势缓和第一步

 

An event is taking place tomorrow, near the border between North and South Korea that hasn't happened in more than two years. High level representatives from the North will meet face to face with high level representatives from the South. After a phone call heard around the world last week, when an official from the North spoke¹ to an official from the South, the line of communication open back up. South Korea suggested that North Korea hold talks in person and the North accepted.

And according to the South Korea Unification Ministry², a group that works toward diplomacy³ with its northern neighbor, the topics will include, quote, issues related to improving inter-Korean relationships, including the Pyeongchang Olympic Games.

North and South Korea used to be one country. But today, most experts on the region say reunification is not likely, mostly because the two nations' governments are so different from one another. Would the communist government of North Korea be willing to give up its autocratic control and be absorbed by the South, or would voters in the democratic country of South Korea choose to be rule by the northern government? Those answers are almost certainly no.

But the fact that the two sides are talking, in a setting that's unlike anywhere else in the world is considered a breakthrough.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Korean Demilitarized Zone, a place where two worlds collide, dictatorship and democracy staring each other down.

CHAD O'CARROLL, MANAGING DIRECTOR, KOREA RISK GROUP: It's a very, very vivid reminder⁴ just what's at stake on the peninsula.

RIPLEY: The first official talks in two years between North and South Korea will be held in Panmunjom, the so-called Truce⁵ Village, straddling the 38th Parallel, the tense dividing line between two neighbors still technically⁶ at war.

Delegations⁷ from both sides of the DMZ will be sitting a stone's throw away from the path a North Korean took in November, in a dramatic defection, shot five times, running South.

The talks will take place in Peace House, one of three buildings in the Truce Village, built specifically for discussion like this, two in the South, one in the North.

O'CARROLL: Sometimes the two couriers have disagreements over which side the talks should be on.

RIPLEY: This time, they're on the South side. North Korean officials will likely pass through the same blue huts I first visited in 2015, the year the last round of marathon talks took place, lasting⁸ some 44 hours, nearly two days.

To understand the DMZ, we need to go back to the end of World War II, the Soviets⁹ and Americans divided Korea just like they did Germany, most historians say the communists North tried to get it all by invading the South. The North says it was the other way around.

Technically, the war never ended. An armistice¹⁰ agreement put both Koreas back on their side of the dividing line, a standoff nearly 65 years and counting.

Today, North Korea is facing its toughest sanctions ever, over Leader Kim Jong-un's rapidly advancing nuclear program.

O'CARROLL: For the North Koreans, the motivation to take part in these talks is undoubtedly¹¹ due to the pressure that is building on the country.

RIPLEY: Pressure that only stands to increase in 2018, unless both sides find a diplomatic path, a path that begins here in Panmunjom, a painful reminder of the region's violent past, tense present, and uncertain future.

Will Ripley, CNN, Seoul.

1 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。

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 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

4 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

5 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

6 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

7 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

8 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

9 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

10 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。

11 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。