2007年VOA标准英语-UN Chief 'Encouraged' By North Korea Talks

By Peter Heinlein
United Nations
19 March 2007

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is encouraged by North Korea's apparent willingness to dismantle¹ its nuclear weapons. In an exclusive VOA interview, Mr. Ban discussed his back stage role in the ongoing² six-party talks on denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. Correspondent Peter Heinlein spoke³ to the secretary-general, and files this report.

Ban Ki-moon

As a former South Korean foreign minister, Mr. Ban is intimately familiar with the six-party talks involving South and North Korea, Russia, China, Japan and the United States. But since he took over as U.N. secretary-general in January, he no longer has an active role in the talks.

Nevertheless, Mr. Ban told VOA he is watching developments carefully, and working behind the scenes to ensure the success of efforts to denuclearize the Korean peninsula.

"I have been closely monitoring, in my capacity as secretary-general of the United Nations, using my experience and know-how⁴ dealing⁵ with the North Korea nuclear issue," said Mr. Ban. "It was a very encouraging development of the situation when the six parties have agreed on these nuclear issues and denuclearization process."

Mr. Ban says his efforts include close contacts with many of the principals in the six-party talks, which resumed Monday in Beijing.

"I have been trying my best, first, to facilitate the ongoing peace process," said U.N. secretary-general. "I met the chief negotiator of the United States."

"I have discussed this matter with Secretary of State, Dr. Rice, and many other senior officials of other governments," he added.

The secretary-general said he was pleased at the landmark⁶ 'aid-for disarmament' deal reached among the six parties February 13 in Beijing. According to the terms of that deal, North Korea agreed to dismantle all nuclear weapons and materials in return for economic and security assistance.

Secretary-General Ban called Pyongyang's decision to accept the deal 'good policy'.

"It's always good for the parties to engage in direct dialogue in a bilateral⁷ setting or a multilateral setting. And it is also encouraging that North Korea has decided⁸ to engage in dialogue. It was I think a good policy for them," Mr. Ban said.

The secretary-general also expressed satisfaction that the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, Mohammed ElBaradei, has also had good discussions with North Korean authorities about implementing⁹ the February 13th deal.

If followed, the agreement would lead to North Korea getting out of the nuclear weapons business entirely¹⁰, normalizing relations with longtime enemies Japan and the United States, and possibly ending 53 years of stalemate that has existed since the Korean War ended without a peace agreement.

 

But the chief U.S. delegate at the six-party talks, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill recently cautioned against being overly optimistic about the early successes. He likened the process to a video game that gets more and more difficult as you move on to higher and higher levels.

1 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

2 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

3 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。

4 know-how   

n.知识；技术；诀窍

参考例句：

• He hasn't got the know-how to run a farm.他没有经营农场的专业知识。
• I don't have much know-how about engines.发动机方面的技术知识我知之甚少。

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

7 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

8 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。

9 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

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。