美国国家公共电台 NPR The Spies Have A Leading Role In The North Korea Summit

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

All right. So we are not sure yet whether President Trump¹ and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are going to actually meet, but U.S. and Korean spy chiefs are set to have more face time today. And they have been playing leading roles in this yes-no-maybe summit. Here's NPR's Greg Myre.

GREG MYRE, BYLINE²: When Mike Pompeo became CIA director last year, he immediately placed his focus on North Korea.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MIKE POMPEO: Within weeks of me coming here, I created a Korean Mission Center, stood it up with a senior leader who had just retired³, brought him back to run the organization.

MYRE: Pompeo, speaking back in January, was referring to Andrew Kim, a Korean-American who grew up in South Korea. Since then, Andrew Kim has accompanied Pompei on two trips to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Pompeo and Andrew Kim were also side by side as they dined Wednesday and held talks Thursday in New York with North Korea's Kim Yong Chol (ph). He's a former intelligence chief himself and considered the right-hand man of Kim Jong Un.

LAURA ROSENBERGER: The policy process should not be being driven by the intelligence community.

MYRE: Laura Rosenberger says that's the job of the White House and the State Department. She worked on North Korea as a diplomat⁴. She even visited a North Korean nuclear site a decade ago.

ROSENBERGER: The State Department has been in the lead for those negotiations⁵. So even though we don't have diplomatic relations, we still have the ability to have those kinds of channels.

MYRE: To be clear, the State Department is deeply involved in summit preparations. But U.S. and Korean spy chiefs, current and former, are playing an unusually prominent role says Bruce Bennett of the RAND Corporation.

BRUCE BENNETT: If you're talking about North Korea's nuclear capabilities⁶, that's not going to be something that the State Department is going to have the lead on. That's going to be something that the intelligence community has the lead on.

MYRE: So all these spies are in the mix, but how good is the U.S. intelligence?

BENNETT: The North Koreans are very, very good at hiding information about their programs.

MYRE: Bennett says crucial details remain elusive⁷.

BENNETT: Some of the key experts are talking about somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 to 40 nuclear weapons. There have been press reports that the intelligence community is talking about 30 to 60. I think we have to recognize the uncertainties⁸.

MYRE: And what are the prospects⁹ for a breakthrough? Laura Rosenberger offers this warning.

ROSENBERGER: The North Koreans have shown us before a willingness to take symbolic¹⁰ reversible steps to pocket rewards and then cheat and walk away. And that is a trap we need to avoid.

MYRE: She notes Kim Jong Un has substantially improved his image by meeting the presidents of China and South Korea as well as Pompeo.

ROSENBERGER: One of the things that the North Koreans want most is legitimacy¹¹, and essentially¹², Kim Jong Un already has gotten that.

MYRE: Much harder, she says, will be getting him to give up those nukes. Greg Myre, NPR News, Washington.

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 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 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

4 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

6 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

7 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

8 uncertainties   

无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物

参考例句：

• One of the uncertainties of military duty is that you never know when you might suddenly get posted away. 任军职不稳定的因素之一是你永远不知道什么时候会突然被派往它处。
• Uncertainties affecting peace and development are on the rise. 影响和平与发展的不确定因素在增加。 来自汉英非文学 - 十六大报告

9 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

10 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

11 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。

12 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。