South Korea's chief official on North Korea policy has warned a continued lack of progress in talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons could threaten the growth of a joint industrial park. The park, built by South Korea in the Northern city of Kaesong, was considered all but untouchable by previous administrations.
韩国负责北韩事务的首席官员警告说，有关平壤核武器问题的会谈如果继续得不到进展，就有可能危及一个联合工业园区的扩展。这个工业园区是韩国在北韩的开城建造的，前几任韩国政府一直把它看作是不能触及的领域。
South Korean Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong told South Korean businessmen this week, an ongoing stall in North Korea's nuclear weapons diplomacy could translate into a stall on economic cooperation with the South.
韩国统一部长官金夏中这个星期对韩国商界人士表示，如果围绕北韩核武器问题展开的外交活动持续停顿，那么南北韩之间的经济合作也有可能陷于停顿。
Kim says a lack of progress in multinational talks aimed at eliminating the North's nuclear weapons could threaten the scheduled expansion of a South Korean-built industrial park in the North Korean city of Kaesong.
金夏中说，旨在解除北韩核武器的多方会谈缺乏进展，有可能威胁到韩国在北韩开城建造的一个工业园区的扩展。
The Kaesong industrial zone is one of the main fruits of a historic inter-Korean summit in 2000, which led to enhanced economic cooperation between the two sides. Today about 22,000 North Koreans work in the zone, mostly making low-skilled manufactured goods for South Korean companies.
开城工业园区是2000年具有历史意义的南北韩峰会上取得的主要成果之一，这次峰会使得南北韩双方的经济合作进一步提高。如今，大约有2万2千名北韩人在这个工业园区工作，主要是为韩国公司生产低技能的制造业产品。
The zone was prized by the administration of previous South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun as a centerpiece of Seoul's peaceful engagement with the North. Even after North Korea conducted its first nuclear weapons test in October 2006, South Korean officials did not halt Kaesong's operations or seriously challenge its future prospects for expansion.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, inaugurated last month, has said he will not treat North-South cooperation as a separate matter from the nuclear issue. Officials in Lee's government have said eliminating the North's nuclear weapons are a precondition for improving the North-South relationship.
韩国总统李明博上个月宣誓就职。他表示，他不会把南北韩的合作同核武器问题分开来对待。韩国政府官员表示，解除北韩核武器是改善南北韩关系的先决条件。
North Korea is three months overdue in providing a nuclear declaration it promised multinational negotiators it would produce by the end of last year. Pyongyang has given no clear indication of when or if it will fulfill its pledge.
北韩曾向多边谈判代表承诺，它会去年年底之前提交一份核库存与核活动的清单，但是逾期3个月还没有交出。平壤没有明确表示什么时候提交这份清单，甚至没有说明是否会兑现它的承诺。
A senior analyst at the Korean Institute for National Unification in Seoul, Kim Yong-yun, says Unification Minister Kim's comments about Kaesong are bound to get Pyongyang's attention. He says threatening the expansion of the Kaesong zone sends a strong message to North Korea that the South Korean government wants the nuclear issue resolved quickly.
设在首尔的韩国国家统一研究院的资深分析人士金永云指出，韩国统一部长官金夏中的这番话必定引起北韩的注意。金永云说，韩国提出开城工业园区的扩展有可能受到威胁，这向北韩发出了一个强有力的信号，那就是：韩国政府希望核武器问题迅速得到解决。
A group of about 200 South Korean businessmen is touring the North in search of potential investment opportunities. The visit is part of what the Lee administration describes as its "businesslike and practical" approach to dealing with the North. |