美国国家公共电台 NPR Fresh Threats From Pyongyang As Joint Military Exercise Begins

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

North Korea is issuing some fresh threats. This is as the United States and South Korea begin a 10-day joint¹ military exercise on the Korean Peninsula. This is an annual drill - all of it, both the war games and the knee-jerk vitriol from Pyongyang. But this year, the bitter back-and-forth between North Korea's Kim Jong Un and President Trump² may have raised the stakes. NPR's Elise Hu joins us from Seoul.

And Elise, I guess you just get used to covering these exercises if you're based in Seoul.

ELISE HU, BYLINE³: Yeah, I think that this isn't the first time that we've talked about it in the last two and a half years I've been out here, David. That's for sure.

GREENE: Yeah. So what exactly is North Korea saying about these exercises?

HU: Well, like you mentioned, it's no secret that Pyongyang always complains about these joint exercises because Pyongyang really sees this as a provocation⁴, as a pretext⁵ for invasion. They happen twice a year, though - one in March, a different one in August. And the U.S. has always maintained that they're purely⁶ defensive⁷. But the North Korean state media has said yesterday - as recently as yesterday - that these exercises are like pouring gasoline on fire, essentially⁸ worsening the state of the peninsula right now.

GREENE: Hm, so they're trying to say that this is the - maybe that the U.S. and South Korea could back off since there are other tensions out there, and send a message that maybe that there is no military action forthcoming, or something like that. So what - so the United States says these are just exercises. They happen twice a year. What, exactly, is going to happen with this August exercise?

HU: The August exercise is called Ulchi Freedom Guardian⁹, or UFG. It's largely computer-based. It's a simulation for preventing and fighting a North Korean attack, really. This exercise involves a lot of service members, some 17,000 from the U.S. military, nearly 50,000 from the South Korean military.

There is nothing inherently new about what's happening. This exercise has gone on under different names since 1976. What's different, of course, is the context. This comes after North Korea tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July. It then said it was examining a plan to possibly bracket Guam, the U.S. territory, with missiles.

That's a plan that's on hold now. And, of course, the tensions were ratcheted up further when President Donald Trump threatened North Korea with fire and fury.

GREENE: Well, so if North Korean aggression¹⁰ is even a tad bit less hypothetical at this moment, do you change these exercises in some way?

HU: The U.S. has actually scaled back the number of troops taking part this year by about 8,000. But Defense¹¹ Secretary James Mattis says that's not because of the heightened tensions. He told reporters that fewer troops were needed because they were integrating some roles and emphasizing command post operations during the exercise.

But because of the increased attention on the peninsula right now, you are hearing louder calls from North Korea's more traditional allies of China and Russia to freeze the exercises in the interest of getting North Korea back to the negotiating table. China and Russia both support an idea known around here as freeze for freeze, suggesting that the U.S. and South Korea should freeze its annual exercises in exchange for Pyongyang halting or putting a pause on its nuclear and missile tests. So far, the U.S. and South Korea have rejected this idea outright¹², arguing it creates a false equivalence.

GREENE: And Elisa, briefly¹³, I mean, you have North Korea saying that it would retaliate¹⁴ if it senses that the U.S. is going to strike any nuclear facilities there. Is that seen as a likely thing at all, right now?

HU: Highly unlikely. It's really considered a last resort.

GREENE: OK, that is NPR's Elise Hu, who is our correspondent based in Seoul. Elise, thanks a lot.

HU: You bet.

(SOUNDBITE OF GOLD PANDA'S "HALYARDS")

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 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 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。

4 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。

5 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

6 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。

7 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。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

10 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。

11 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。

12 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

13 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

14 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。