美国国家公共电台 NPR Activity At 2nd North Korean Missile Site Indicates Possible Launch Preparations

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

New photographs suggest North Korea is preparing to launch a missile or space rocket. This comes just more than a week after President Trump¹ and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walked away from their nuclear summit with no agreement. NPR has been shown commercial satellite imagery of renewed activity at a facility where North Korea has assembled ICBMs and satellite rockets in the past, and this activity is at a different site from the one we've been discussing the last few days.

Science and security correspondent Geoff Brumfiel broke this story and joins us now in the studio. Hi, Geoff.

GEOFF BRUMFIEL, BYLINE²: Hi there.

SHAPIRO: You've seen these photos. When were they taken, and what did they show?

BRUMFIEL: These photos were taken on February 22 by a company called DigitalGlobe. And analysis from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies shows that basically what we're seeing is vehicle activity and activity at a nearby railyard that is consistent with the preparation of a missile or rocket - we're not quite sure which - at this facility. And the missile or a rocket may have indeed already left. It may still be under assembly. Again, we're not quite sure. But this is consistent with activity for preparing either an intercontinental ballistic missile or a space launch.

SHAPIRO: You've got those photos right in front of you. They're also posted online at npr.org. It was just days ago that another North Korean missile site appeared to have new activity. What's happening at that site, and how does it fit in with today's news?

BRUMFIEL: So that site's actually called the Sohae Satellite Launch Facility, and it basically is a site that North Korea has used in the past to launch satellites. Now, after Trump and Kim's first summit in June of last year, that site was partially³ disassembled as a goodwill⁴ gesture, and then sometime around the time of the Hanoi summit, everything was put together very, very quickly. And in fact, imagery from earlier this week showed the site is apparently⁵ completely reassembled now and may even be operational.

So these two things together suggest that we may be looking at a possible upcoming space launch, not a missile launch. North Korea has been talking about launching some satellites, and so that might be what they're intending to do.

SHAPIRO: Often it's impossible to know exactly what's happening in North Korea or what the intentions of the North Koreans might be, but can you try to put this activity into context for us? What does this mean?

BRUMFIEL: Sure. I mean, we don't have a lot of great on-the-ground intelligence in North Korea, and we really rely on satellite images, especially outside of the government, for making any sort of guesses, and the North Koreans know that. They use these moves to signal to the U.S. and to other countries that they're, you know, thinking this way or that. I think a satellite launch is kind of an interesting signal, if that's where we're headed. It looks in many ways like a missile launch, yet the North Koreans can claim it's peaceful. I think it would be seen as provocative⁶. Yesterday, a senior State Department official said it would be seen as sort of backsliding in terms of the goodwill that Trump and Kim have built.

SHAPIRO: So maybe a reason to worry but not an explicit⁷ immediate⁸ threat - is that the assessment⁹?

BRUMFIEL: Absolutely, yeah. This is not a threat. And we don't even know when this launch could happen. It could be days. It could be weeks or months. There's a big national holiday next month in North Korea, and that may be a time they choose to launch a satellite. And of course it may be there's no launch at all, that they're just doing some work at the facility. There's no way to tell right now. But nonetheless, it does seem to be a further indication that the two sides are moving further apart post-Hanoi summit.

SHAPIRO: That's NPR science and security correspondent Geoff Brumfiel, who broke this story of renewed activity at a North Korean missile assembly site. Thank you, Geoff.

BRUMFIEL: Thank you.

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 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

4 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

7 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

9 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？