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The U.S. State Department says it is "unfortunate that North Korea has not yet met its commitments" in six-nation diplomacy¹ aimed at getting rid of its nuclear weapons. Japan's Foreign Ministry² issued a statement Monday using similar language.

美国国务院说，非常遗憾北韩没有兑现在旨在解除北韩核武器项目的六方会谈中所做出的承诺。日本外务省在星期一发表声明表达了相同立场。

Pyongyang had promised the United States, Japan, China, Russia and South Korea it would provide a full and accurate declaration of all its nuclear programs, stockpiles and weapons by the end of the year. However, the North remained silent as the final hours of 2007 ticked away.

平壤曾经向美国、日本、中国、俄罗斯和韩国保证，要在今年底之前提交一份完整、准确的核项目、核武器及其库存的清单。但在2007年即将结束的最后几个小时里，北韩继续保持沉默。

Experts say the delaying is linked to North Korea's uranium enrichment activities. Senior U.S. officials say there is considerable evidence, including a private admission by Pyongyang, that North Korea broke previous commitments by secretly enriching uranium. North Korea has never publicly admitted doing so.

有关专家认为，这一拖延与北韩的铀浓缩活动有关联。美国高级官员说，有相当多的证据显示，其中包括平壤的私下承认，北韩秘密进行铀浓缩活动，违反了平壤先前做出的承诺。北韩从来没有公开承认进行铀浓缩活动。

South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said this week more consultations³ are needed on the uranium issue. He says the timing⁴ of the declaration is not as important as the sincerity⁵ of its contents.

韩国外交通商部长官宋民(上日下文)淳说，需要就铀浓缩问题进行更多的磋商。他说，公布清单的时间并不像有诚意的内容那样重要。

In an appeal for patience, Song says the Korean peninsula is on a path it has never been on before. What is important, he says, is to move ahead in a stable way.

宋民(上日下文)淳呼吁人们保持耐心。他说，朝鲜半岛正行进在过去从未走过的道路上，重要的是稳步向前。

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, Washington's senior envoy⁶ in the nuclear diplomacy, says it would be unhelpful for the declaration to be on time if it was incomplete.

美国国务院助理国务卿希尔是参加有关北韩核项目的六方会谈美国高级特使。他说，如果北韩提供的核活动清单不够完整，那么这份清单是否按时公布就不那么重要了。

"We cannot put ourselves in the position of trying to ignore things," Hill said. "We have to have clarity on all these programs."

希尔说，“我们无法将自己置于一个试图视而不见的地位上。我们必须对北韩核项目的各个方面都了如指掌。”

North Korea has made progress on pledges to disable facilities capable of producing plutonium, including its main production facility at Yongbyon. Supervised by U.S. experts, North Korea has taken steps to make it costly⁷ and time-consuming to restart the facilities, and has promised to begin dismantling⁸ them altogether next year. As compensation, the United States and South Korea are giving the North the energy equivalent of about one million tons of fuel oil.

北韩在兑现消除生产钸材料的核设施的功能的承诺方面取得了进展，其中包括宁边的主要核设施。在美国专家的监督下，北韩采取了行动，使得重新启动这些核设施变得更加昂贵和费时。北韩还承诺，明年开始将核设施全部拆除。作为对北韩的补偿，美国和韩国正在向北韩提供相当于100万吨燃油的燃料。

However, this week a senior North Korean official warned the pace of the disabling process would slow down, because Pyongyang believes the energy compensation is not being delivered in a timely manner. Experts say technical issues are probably the real reason for the delay.

北韩的一名高级官员警告说，消除核设施功能的进展可能会放缓，因为北韩认为能源补偿没有及时交货。专家说，拖延交货的真正原因可能出于技术性问题。

U.S. State Department Spokesman Tom Casey says Washington urges North Korea to deliver a complete and correct declaration. There has been no indication of when North Korea might provide the required documents.

美国国务院发言人凯西说，华盛顿敦促北韩兑现承诺，提交一个完整准确的核活动清单。现在没有任何迹象显示，北韩可能会在什么时候提交这份它需要提交的文件。