美国国家公共电台 NPR North And South Korea Plan First Talks In 2 Years

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Leaders of the U.S. and North Korea are talking - in their way. Kim Jong Un said in a speech that he has a nuclear button on his desk. Donald Trump¹ replied he had a bigger button. Next week, however, North Korea begins a more intimate kind of dialogue. Diplomats² meet with their counterparts from South Korea - high-level talks, we're told. NPR's Elise Hu is watching all this from Seoul. Hi, Elise.

ELISE HU, BYLINE³: Hi there.

INSKEEP: What's it look like when these two sides meet?

HU: Well, they haven't met in two years, so that's what is significant about all of this. But it's likely to happen right on the border in what's known as the Peace Village in a conference center. It's a three-or-four-story building. It's pretty airy. And it was built specifically for inter-Korean talks, so it sits empty a lot. But inside the room itself, diplomats sit at a long table facing each other, two or three diplomats on each side.

INSKEEP: And they talk in a diplomatic way, not about nuclear buttons and so forth⁴?

HU: They are not expected to talk about security issues but instead focus on North Korea sending a team or a delegation⁵ to the upcoming Winter Olympics, which South Korea is hosting.

INSKEEP: Well, how did they suddenly agree to have a discussion about anything amid this nuclear confrontation⁶?

HU: Kim Jong Un made an overture⁷ on New Year's Day. He said he wished for a successful Olympics. And he extended an olive branch in that speech to restart dialogue. South Korea jumped right on it. And now they're going to do some real diplomacy⁸.

INSKEEP: Oh, this is interesting because we primarily noticed that speech on New Year's Day for the remark about the nuclear button. But you're saying there was some peaceful language in there.

HU: Yeah. A lot of attention was focused on the nuclear button remark. But what was really important was actually this offer to restart dialogue. That was the meat. That was the change in the previously⁹ frozen ties. And that led to the place that we're at now.

INSKEEP: So President Trump, I know, took credit for these talks because he said he was talking tough. Is there anything to that?

HU: Well, talking tough - and then, also, there's a policy of sanctions, right? So this raises the question of whether the sanctions that are being placed on North Korea are effective. I asked David Kang, who heads the Korean Studies Institute at the University of Southern California, to weigh in on how to read this opening that we're at now.

DAVID KANG: I think the reality is that these moves by North Korea aren't aimed at all at ending the sanctions. They're aimed at lowering the tensions between both sides. And if they can do that, I think everybody is better off.

HU: So a lot of us are going to be watching to see what happens at the border on Tuesday, Steve.

INSKEEP: OK, Elise. Thanks very much.

HU: You bet.

INSKEEP: That's NPR's Elise Hu.

1 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。

2 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

5 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。

6 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

7 overture   

n.前奏曲、序曲，提议，提案，初步交涉

参考例句：

• The opera was preceded by a short overture.这部歌剧开始前有一段简短的序曲。
• His overture led to nothing.他的提议没有得到什么结果。

8 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。

9 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。