VOA慢速英语-- 在奥运会上,朝鲜寻求'魅力'外交

At Olympics, North Korea Seeks ‘Charm’ Diplomacy¹

The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced plans to visit North Korea after the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

An IOC spokesman said Olympics chief Thomas Bach had agreed to the visit as part of the deal for North Korea to take part in the 2018 games. A date has yet to be set.

The announcement follows the North’s invitation to South Korean President Moon Jae-in to visit the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

That visit would be the first by a South Korean leader to Pyongyang since Kim Jong Un became North Korea’s leader in 2011.

Moon’s office says he wanted to “create the environment for that to be able to happen.”

The South Korean leader got the invitation from high-level North Korean officials, who were attending the winter Olympics.

The North Korean delegation³ included chief of state Kim Yong Nam and Kim Yo Jong, a sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Over 400 North Koreans, including athletes and musicians, have gone to Pyeongchang in what some observers have termed a “charm offensive.”

The North Korean actions have raised concerns that they could hurt a United States-led campaign of “maximum pressure” against the North. The North Korean leadership continues to face international sanctions because of its nuclear and missile activities.

At the same time, the recent contacts have raised hopes of increased diplomatic engagement between the two Koreas.

A spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry⁴ said North Korea’s actions were meaningful.

“It shows that North Korea is willing to improve the relationship between South and North Korea. We also believe it showed that they might take unprecedented⁵ drastic action if needed,” he said.

The official did not say what “unprecedented drastic action” meant. But he said the goal of the contacts is to start denuclearization talks between the U.S. and North Korea.

Surprise meeting of top officials

Top officials from several countries sat together last Friday for the opening ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics. They watched athletes of both North and South Korea march together under the white and blue “unification flag.”

The South Korean leader greeted the North Korean representatives. Also present were U.S. Vice⁶ President Mike Pence and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. German President Joachim Gauk also was there.

Pence did not greet or speak with either of the North Korean officials at the event.

Later, some news media criticized him for ignoring the North Koreans and not clapping during the entrance of the joint⁷ Korean team at the opening ceremony.

However, on Sunday, the U.S. official reportedly spoke² to Moon about possible terms for engagement with North Korea, but he added that pressure would continue.

On his return to the United States, Pence reportedly said: “No pressure comes off until they are actually doing something that the alliance believes represents a meaningful step toward denuclearization.”

Pence added that, while pressure would intensify⁸, the U.S. government remained open to talks: “if you want to talk, we’ll talk,” he reportedly said.

The Washington Post newspaper reported his comments.

“Charm” efforts bring warnings

North Korea experts have warned that the “charm offensive” is aimed at weakening U.S. ties with South Korea.

Robert Manning is an expert with the Atlantic Council, a public policy group based in Washington, D.C. He described the North Korean invitation as “a very clever move by Kim Jong Un to drive a big wedge” between the two allies.

Ken⁹ Gauswe is a director at the Center for Naval¹⁰ Analysis in the American state of Virginia. He noted¹¹ that North Korea had secured economic aid from earlier inter-Korean meetings.

“If it leads to promises of aid, then it would definitely undermine the maximum pressure strategy,” he said.

Bruce Klingner, a researcher for the Heritage Foundation in Washington agrees. He said Moon would risk violating United Nations Security Council sanctions if he offered notable aid in return for the North Korean efforts.

Some observers said that the latest developments have put the South Korean leader in a difficult situation.

“President Moon must balance his desire for North-South reconciliation¹² with his policy of denuclearization,” noted Manning.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, during a trip to the Middle East, that it was too early to judge if diplomatic progress was taking place.

"It’s really up to the North Koreans to decide when they’re ready to engage with us in a sincere way, a meaningful way,” he said.

Reuters reports that a South Korean official said that the government’s position is that sanctions and pressure can be expected to continue. At the same time, talks with the North, involving both South Korea and the United States, should lead to the North’s denuclearization.

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

charm – n. qualities that cause someone or something to be very likeable

sanctions – n. measures designed to cause a country to obey international law usually by limiting trade

maximum – adj. the most

engagement – n. the state of being involved in

unprecedented – adj. not having happened before

drastic – adj. severe, extreme

denuclearization – n. a process of giving up the possession of nuclear weapons

wedge – n. a tool used to split materials such as wood

reconciliation – n. the process of bringing two groups together that were in disagreement

1 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。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 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。

8 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

9 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

10 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。