美国国家公共电台 NPR--North Korea's missile strikes are escalating tensions

North Korea's missile strikes are escalating¹ tensions

Transcript²

Tensions between North and South Korea are increasing with both sides firing missiles into disputed maritime³ areas for the first time since the Korean peninsula was divided more than 70 years ago.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Officials in Tokyo say North Korea has triggered one more missile test. That's on top of three ballistic missile tests earlier today, including the firing of a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile. Pyongyang also fired 23 missiles yesterday, the most the North has ever launched in a day. The latest show of aggression⁴ prompted evacuation warnings in both South Korea and Japan. NPR's Anthony Kuhn joins us now from Seoul. Anthony, good morning.

ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE⁵: Good morning.

MARTIN: Can you explain more about the weapons North Korea launched over the last couple days and their significance?

KUHN: Yes. Today's tests included that suspected ICBM. And Japan thought that the ICBM was going to fly over its main island, so it issued warnings for people to seek cover in three prefectures. The missile did not fly over the island. Yesterday, it launched 23 missiles, which appear all to be short-range ballistic missiles. And last month, North Korea rehearsed using these missiles to hit U.S. and South Korean military targets with tactical nuclear weapons. I spoke⁶ to Kim Jeong-dae (ph) about this. He's a former South Korean defense⁷ official and a visiting professor at Yonsei University. Let's hear him speak.

KIM JEONG-DAE: (Speaking Korean).

KUHN: So he says, "North Korea staged a very threatening provocation⁸ at a magnitude we've never seen before. They launched missiles from all around the country - east, west, south, north. This seems intended to negate⁹ our strategy of striking the source of the attack." So basically, he's saying that North Korea's two days of missile launches have sent a lot of signals about what North Korea can do militarily.

MARTIN: And what is North Korea saying about why it's doing this now?

KUHN: Well, it's portraying¹⁰ its missile launches as insurance against attacks, including nuclear attacks, by the U.S. and South Korea. It points to U.S. and South Korean large-scale joint¹¹ Air Force exercises this week involving some 240 planes. Last week, it pointed¹² to 12 days of joint large-scale military field exercises. It's also unhappy that the U.S., South Korea and Japan are stepping up trilateral cooperation against it and that the U.S. is deploying¹³ aircraft carriers and nuclear power subs to the region. And it especially doesn't like that South Korea openly talks about decapitation strikes against the North's leadership.

But even without all these pretexts¹⁴, North Korea would be testing weapons anyway. They've begun a five-year plan to beef up their nuclear arsenal¹⁵ with the aim of making their military deterrent¹⁶ more credible¹⁷ and eventually extracting concessions¹⁸ from the U.S. And so it's likely to be conducting lots of nuclear and missile tests for years to come, whatever Seoul and Washington do.

MARTIN: Right. And as you alluded¹⁹ to, North Korea does this. I mean, they've conducted tests for many years. Does this feel different, like an actual military conflict between North Korea and one of its neighbors is closer?

KUHN: In some ways. I mean, the missiles flew over the de facto maritime border for the first time, and they appeared to be headed for populated areas. And South Korea considers that tantamount to a violation²⁰ of its territory. Of course, the U.S. and South Korea are still expecting an even bigger provocation, which is North Korea's seventh test detonation²¹ of an atomic bomb. And they could get extra political impact if they stage that around the time of U.S. midterm elections.

MARTIN: Lastly, Anthony, the U.S. is now saying that North Korea is covertly²² transferring artillery²³ shells to Russia to use in the war in Ukraine. What's going on?

KUHN: Well, North Korea has denied giving Russia this ammo, but the point is that the two Koreas are technically²⁴ still at war, and they both have large stockpiles of weapons. Ukraine has said it wants South Korean weapons, and Russia could sure use North Korean ammo. So far, Seoul has limited itself to arming Ukraine's neighbor, Poland. But it's a really interesting illustration of how these two conflicts in Europe and Asia are actually connected through the history of the Cold War and its aftermath.

MARTIN: NPR's Anthony Kuhn reporting from Seoul. Thanks so much.

KUHN: Thank you.

1 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

4 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 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。

7 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。

8 provocation   

n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因

参考例句：

• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation.他是火爆性子，一点就着。
• They did not react to this provocation.他们对这一挑衅未作反应。

9 negate   

vt.否定，否认；取消，使无效

参考例句：

• Our actions often negate our principles.我们的行为时常与我们所信奉的原则背道而弛。
• Mass advertising could negate the classical theory of supply and demand.大宗广告可以否定古典经济学的供求理论。

10 portraying   

v.画像( portray的现在分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The artist has succeeded in portraying my father to the life. 那位画家把我的父亲画得惟妙惟肖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ding Ling was good at portraying figures through careful and refined description of human psychology. 《莎菲女士的日记》是丁玲的成名作，曾引起强烈的社会反响。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

11 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。

12 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

13 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

14 pretexts   

n.借口，托辞( pretext的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• On various pretexts they all moved off. 他们以各种各样的借口纷纷离开了。 来自辞典例句
• Pretexts and appearances no longer deceive us. 那些托辞与假象再也不会欺骗我们了。 来自辞典例句

15 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

16 deterrent   

n.阻碍物，制止物；adj.威慑的，遏制的

参考例句：

• Large fines act as a deterrent to motorists.高额罚款是对开车的人的制约。
• I put a net over my strawberries as a deterrent to the birds.我在草莓上罩了网，免得鸟歇上去。

17 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

18 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

19 alluded   

提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In your remarks you alluded to a certain sinister design. 在你的谈话中，你提到了某个阴谋。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles. 她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。

20 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

21 detonation   

n.爆炸；巨响

参考例句：

• A fearful detonation burst forth on the barricade.街垒传来一阵骇人的爆炸声。
• Within a few hundreds of microseconds,detonation is complete.在几百微秒之内，爆炸便完成了。

22 covertly   

adv.偷偷摸摸地

参考例句：

• Naval organizations were covertly incorporated into civil ministries. 各种海军组织秘密地混合在各民政机关之中。 来自辞典例句
• Modern terrorism is noteworthy today in that it is being done covertly. 现代的恐怖活动在今天是值得注意的，由于它是秘密进行的。 来自互联网

23 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

24 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。