VOA慢速英语2018--韩国官员会见朝鲜领导人

South Korean Officials Meet with North Korean Leader Kim

Special envoys² for South Korean President Moon Jae-in reportedly met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Monday.

Moon’s office said the envoys were to meet with North Korean officials and to attend a dinner hosted by Kim. Observers note that this would be unusual for a North Korean leader. Kim has not met with any foreign leaders since he took power in 2011 after the death of his father Kim Jong il.

Moon’s national security advisor³, Chung Eui-Yong, led the 10-member delegation⁴. The head of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service is also in the delegation. The group traveled on a rare direct flight from Seoul to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.

The envoys brought a message from Moon about removing all nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula and peace between the two Koreas.

Chung spoke⁵ to reporters before leaving for the trip. He said he would “deliver President Moon’s firm resolve to achieve a denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and genuine and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

Chung said he would seek “in-depth” discussions to find a way to restart talks between North Korea and the U.S.

“For this, we plan to have in-depth discussion not only on South-North talks, but also ways to continue talks between North Korea and the international community, including the United States,” he said.

However, the diplomatic effort faces North Korean opposition⁶ to planned military drills to be held between the South and the U.S. in April. North Korea’s KCNA news agency warned that the North would, in its words, “counter the U.S.” if it holds the joint⁷ exercises as currently planned.

The military joint exercises were postponed⁸ because of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea last month.

Kim Jong Un sent his sister and chief of state Kim Yong Nam to the opening ceremonies of the Games. He also sent high-level party official Kim Yong Chol to the closing ceremonies.

Moon spoke by telephone with U.S. President Donald Trump⁹ about the visit last week. After the two-day visit is complete, the South Korean special envoys are to travel to the U.S. to discuss their contact with the North.

North Korean officials have told Moon that they are willing to restart talks with the U.S. And the U.S. president has said he also is willing to hold talks, but only “under the right conditions.”

The U.S. placed another set of sanctions on the North last month that target individuals, companies and ships.

Those restrictions¹⁰ are in addition to United Nations Security Council sanctions put in place since early 2016.

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

envoy¹ –n. a person sent by a government to represent it in talks with another government

determination –n. the quality of continuing to work or try at something that is difficult

genuine –adj. real, true or honest

drills –n. practice or exercises done to increase preparation and skills

sanctions –n. punishments usually in the form of trade restrictions meant to force a country to obey international law

1 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

2 envoys   

使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份

参考例句：

• the routine tit for tat when countries expel each other's envoys 国家相互驱逐对方使节这种惯常的报复行动
• Marco Polo's travelogue mentions that Kublai Khan sent envoys to Malgache. 马可波罗游记中提到忽必烈曾派使节到马尔加什。

3 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

4 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。

5 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。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

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 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。

9 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。

10 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制