韩国请求美国将联合军演推迟到冬奥会后举行

 S. Korea Wants to Postpone¹ Military Drills Until After Olympics

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday that next year’s joint² military exercises with the United States might be postponed³ until after the Olympics.

In an interview with NBC News, the South Korean leader said he had made the “suggestion to the U.S., and the U.S is currently reviewing (it).”

A presidential official in Seoul said the decision to delay the exercises would depend on North Korea avoiding any provocations⁵ during the Olympics. The 2018 Winter Olympics will be held in PyeongChang in February.

President Moon said a lack of provocations during the games would help create an opportunity for talks between the two Koreas and between the United States and North Korea.

However, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in Ottawa, Canada, on Tuesday he did not know of any plans to delay the regular military exercises.

Tillerson had earlier said the United States was prepared to hold unconditional⁶ peace talks with North Korea. But after being corrected by the White House, he explained that the North must first avoid additional provocations.

Is it wishful thinking?

In the last two years, North Korea has accelerated its missile and nuclear development program. Last month, the country’s state media announced it had the ability to hit the U.S. mainland with an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The Moon administration calls the February games the “Olympics for Peace.” Moon's government has been urging North Korea to take part, to both calm the region and encourage future talks.

Critics do not believe North Korea will change its actions in response to Moon’s words.

David Straub is an analyst⁷ with the Sejong Institute in South Korea. He said, “all this focus on the Olympics as an opening for diplomacy⁸ and peace is very much wishful thinking.”

The United States and South Korea regularly hold military exercises to prepare for possible conflict with the North. The exercises held in the spring involve about 17,000 U.S. troops and more than 300,000 South Koreans.

A delay in the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises could be seen as consideration toward China and Russia. The two powers proposed a suspension of the exercises in return for North Korea stopping further nuclear and missile tests.

Neither the U.S. nor South Korea have agreed to the Chinese and Russian proposal.

Delaying the joint drills could also help improve relations between South Korea and China. Relations between the countries have grown difficult over South Korea’s deployment⁹ of the U.S. THAAD missile defense¹⁰ system. China objects to the system's powerful radar¹¹ that can potentially see far into its territory.

South trying to engage the North

Since taking office in May, Moon has tried to improve relations with the Kim Jong Un government while supporting strong economic sanctions against the North.

Straub said many in the Moon administration want to bring back the Sunshine Policy of the early 2000s. The policy provided unconditional aid to the North but failed to persuade the country to end its hostile behavior or nuclear program.

“The Sunshine Policy was supposed to be nice to the North Koreans in the hopes that eventually they would be nice to our side. And it is quite clear by what the North Koreans have done, especially in the past few years, that that is not their intention and not what they’re going to do,” he said.

North Korea has rejected past offers from the South for humanitarian¹² aid and to host reunions for families separated by the division of the Korean Peninsula.

The North Korean Olympic Committee missed the Oct. 30 deadline to register for the winter games, but the International Olympic Committee has said it is still not too late. Two North Korean skaters are the country’s only athletes to qualify for the winter games so far.

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

review – v. to carefully look at or examine the quality or condition of something or someone

provocation⁴ – n. an action or occurrence that causes someone to become angry

opportunity – n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done?

regular – adj. happening over and over again at the same time or in the same way?

accelerate – v. to cause (something) to happen sooner or more quickly

ballistic missile – n. a weapon that is shot through the sky over a great distance and then falls to the ground and explodes

region – n. a part of a country, of the world, etc., that is different or separate from other parts in some way?

encourage – v. to make (something) more appealing or more likely to happen?

response – n. something that is done as a reaction to something else?

analyst – n a person who studies something?; an expert in a field

focus – v. to direct your attention or effort at something specific

drill – n. an exercise done to practice military skills or procedures?

potentially – ?adv. capable of becoming real ?

nice – ?adj. kind, polite, and friendly?

eventually – ?adv. at some later time : in the end?

intention – n. the thing that you plan to do or achieve : an aim or purpose?

athlete – n. a person who is trained in or good at sports, games, or exercises that require physical skill and strength

1 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

2 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

4 provocation   

n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因

参考例句：

• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation.他是火爆性子，一点就着。
• They did not react to this provocation.他们对这一挑衅未作反应。

5 provocations   

n.挑衅( provocation的名词复数 )；激怒；刺激；愤怒的原因

参考例句：

• We cannot ignore such provocations. 对于这种挑衅，我们不能置之不理。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They must immediately cease all their provocations. 他们必须停止一切挑衅。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

7 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

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 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

10 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

11 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

12 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。