美国国家公共电台 NPR North Korea Conducts Its 5th Test Of Nuclear Weapon

North Korea Conducts Its 5th Test Of Nuclear Weapon 

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UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing in Korean).

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: 

You're listening to North Korean state TV this morning celebrating that country's test of a nuclear weapon. North Korea confirmed what is its fifth test after neighboring countries detected a suspicious 5.3 magnitude earthquake in North Korea overnight.

This is the second North Korean nuclear test just this year alone. NPR's Elise Hu is in Seoul and joins us to talk more about this. Good morning.

ELISE HU, BYLINE²: Good morning.

MONTAGNE: What more do we know about that test?

HU: Well, it happened on Founder's Day, marking the 68th anniversary of the founding of the current government. And this particular blast appears to be the most powerful one of the five that North Korea has conducted.

South Korea estimates the yield is at about 10 kilotons. This is an early estimate. That's about half the size of Hiroshima. But it would be North Korea's largest ever. And also, these tests are happening far more frequently. The last one, as you noted³, was just nine months ago.

Previously⁴, North Korea would wait two or three years between its nuclear tests. And, of course, we should note North Korea is the only country in the world that has conducted nuclear tests in the 21st century.

MONTAGNE: And this latest test, of course - immediately condemned⁵ throughout the world. And that includes North Korea's only real ally, China. So what is North Korea up to here?

HU: We can run down the responses real quick. South Korean President Park Geun-hye accused North Korean leader Kim Jong-un of, quote, "maniacal⁶ recklessness." China said it resolutely⁷ opposes the test and says it will lodge⁸ a diplomatic protest.

But Kim Jong-un really sees nuclear weapons as key to the legitimacy⁹ of the regime domestically. So he's not likely to change his policy. It's really baked in to North Korea's culture and system. In fact, the phrase, quote, "we are a full-fledged nuclear state" is even taught to elementary school students in North Korea as one of the key English phrases to know.

So the nuclear program, really, is playing to a domestic political audience, keeping the regime legitimate¹⁰ and playing up this idea to North Korean citizens that the North is constantly under threat by outside forces like South Korea and the United States.

MONTAGNE: And, of course, though the North is in violation¹¹ of U.N. Security Council resolutions, there are already pretty harsh economic sanctions. So what to do?

HU: Right. These sanctions so far haven't been successful in preventing the test. The North still has the resources to pursue nuclear weapons development. One ongoing¹² hole in the sanctions regime is that they're not fully¹³ enforced by China.

And because China is reluctant to cripple North Korea - because frankly¹⁴, the status quo, you could argue, is more desirable to China than a unified¹⁵ Korea under the leadership of Seoul, which is friendly to the United States.

MONTAGNE: One of the things that's said about North Korea is that the regime is belligerent¹⁶. Yes, but maybe even a little crazy - that it's, of course, an isolated¹⁷ power. But that regime is still around three generations later. And the North has been improving its nuclear capabilities¹⁸. In fact, one might argue that North Korea sort of knows what it's doing playing a long game.

HU: That's a really good point, Renee. The view in Asia, of course, is that they're not crazy at all but quite strategically successful. North Korea is really effective in operating in this space where there's distrust between the United States and China - sort of playing the U.S. and China against one another.

So China seems to have implicitly¹⁹ accepted that North Korea has become a nuclear power. The U.S. and South Korea - every time they try to put up defenses, it angers China. So instead of getting China on the side of the United States, China actually ends up siding with North Korea. So North Korea has been very effective with that sort of diplomatic game.

So from Pyongyang's perspective, they're quite successful - no reason to change that strategy. And we should note this is a real thorny²⁰ question. It's going to be one of the biggest foreign policy challenges for the next administration.

MONTAGNE: As President Obama himself said.

HU: That's right.

MONTAGNE: NPR's Elise Hu has been in Laos with the president and is now back at her home base in Seoul, South Korea. Thanks very much.

HU: You bet.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 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。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

6 maniacal   

adj.发疯的

参考例句：

• He was almost maniacal in his pursuit of sporting records.他近乎发疯般地追求着打破体育纪录。
• She is hunched forward over the wheel with a maniacal expression.她弓身伏在方向盘前，表情像疯了一样。

7 resolutely   

adj.坚决地，果断地

参考例句：

• He resolutely adhered to what he had said at the meeting. 他坚持他在会上所说的话。
• He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难，而是抱怨自己运气不佳。

8 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

9 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

10 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。

11 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。

12 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

13 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

14 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

15 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

16 belligerent   

adj.好战的，挑起战争的；n.交战国，交战者

参考例句：

• He had a belligerent aspect.他有种好斗的神色。
• Our government has forbidden exporting the petroleum to the belligerent countries.我们政府已经禁止向交战国输出石油。

17 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。

18 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

19 implicitly   

adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地

参考例句：

• Many verbs and many words of other kinds are implicitly causal. 许多动词和许多其他类词都蕴涵着因果关系。
• I can trust Mr. Somerville implicitly, I suppose? 我想，我可以毫无保留地信任萨莫维尔先生吧？

20 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。