2007年VOA标准英语-US-North Korea Financial Sanctions Talks End

By Daniel Schearf
Beijing
31 January 2007

U.S. and North Korean finance officials have ended a second round of talks on U.S. financial sanctions against Pyongyang with no clear resolution to the dispute. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing that North Korea has blamed the sanctions for holding up progress on parallel six-nation talks about its nuclear programs.

Treasury1 Department's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing And Financial Crimes Daniel Glaser" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070518/1406000.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Daniel Glaser

Talks between the U.S. Treasury Department's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing And Financial Crimes Daniel Glaser and the head of North Korea's Foreign Trade Bank, O Kwang Chol, ended after they held a second and final day of meetings at the North Korean embassy.

Glaser said the two sides went through nearly 50 bank accounts of Macau's Banco Delta² Asia bank one by one to try to answer U.S. allegations about North Korean money laundering³ and other illegal activities at the bank. He described the process as "painstaking⁴", but "very productive."

"We are now in a position after a very lengthy⁵ investigation⁶, which as I've said we went through over three hundred thousand documents from Banco Delta Asia," he said. "Now we've had this chance to have this meeting and get a little bit greater understanding of what was going on at the bank, to start moving forward and trying to bring some resolution to this matter."

Glaser would not say what kind of resolution he wanted to reach with the North Koreans or what the North Koreans had to say during the meetings.

He said the two sides intended to continue meeting to discuss suspected illegal activities, including those beyond the Macau bank. But, he said no date has been decided⁷ for the next round of financial talks.

The U.S. slapped sanctions on Banco Delta Asia in 2005, alleging⁸ it was helping⁹ Pyongyang with counterfeiting¹⁰, money laundering, and other illicit¹¹ activities.

Those sanctions led to banks in other countries limiting financial deals with North Korea, cutting off much of the isolated¹² country's access to international financing.

But, the sanctions have also been a major obstacle to six-nation negotiations¹³ aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programs. Pyongyang delayed talks on its nuclear ambitions for a year over the financial sanctions and only returned to the nuclear talks last December after the U.S. agreed to discuss the sanctions.

Neither set of meetings produced substantial progress as Pyongyang continued to demand the sanctions be lifted before implementing¹⁴ an agreement to end its nuclear programs.

On Tuesday, host China confirmed the six-nation talks, which also include Japan, South Korea, and Russia, would resume next Thursday in Beijing.

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

3 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 painstaking   

adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的

参考例句：

• She is not very clever but she is painstaking.她并不很聪明，但肯下苦功夫。
• Through years of our painstaking efforts,we have at last achieved what we have today.大家经过多少年的努力，才取得今天的成绩。

5 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

6 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

10 counterfeiting   

n.伪造v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was sent to prison for counterfeiting five-dollar bills. 他因伪造5美元的钞票被捕入狱。 来自辞典例句
• National bureau released securities, certificates with security anti-counterfeiting paper technical standards. 国家质量技术监督局发布了证券、证件用安全性防伪纸张技术标准。 来自互联网

11 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

12 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

13 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

14 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句