VOA标准英语2008年-Incoming South Korean President's Team Seeks Ch

By Kurt Achin
Seoul
11 January 2008

South Korea's newly-elected president is signaling new policy directions with regard to North Korea and the United States. As VOA's Kurt Achin reports from Seoul, the incoming Lee Myung-bak administration hopes for closer ties with Washington, and a more sober view of Pyongyang.

A team of U.S. Defense¹ Department envoys² is expected to be in Seoul next Monday, for consultations³ with the transition team of President-elect Lee Myung-bak. A scheduled shift in military command structure between the two countries is expected to top the agenda. South Korea's new leader is to be sworn in next month.

The United States maintains about 28,000 military personnel here in South Korea to deter⁴ any repeat of North Korea's 1950 invasion, which began three years of fighting. Under current terms of the U.S.-South Korea alliance, the United States would command both its own and South Korea's military in the event of renewed conflict with the North.

Incumbent⁵ President Roh Moo-hyun, who made greater autonomy from the U.S. a key policy platform, negotiated the return of wartime command to South Korea by 2012. However, President-elect Lee Myung-bak's spokesman, Lee Dong-kwan, says it may be time to rethink that agreement.

He says, considering North Korea's nuclear capability⁶, the security of the Korean peninsula and South Korea's military competency, Seoul may seek U.S. cooperation on re-examining the timing⁷ of the command transfer.

Lee's comments reflect the concerns of many South Korean security experts that the present transfer arrangement

prematurely⁸ dilutes⁹ the U.S.-South Korean military alliance. They say, even though North Korea is economically weak, its disproportionate investment in nuclear weapons, artillery¹⁰, and short-range missiles still poses a significant threat to the South.

Spokesman Lee says President Lee will also take a sharply different approach to dealing¹¹ with North Korea on approximately 500 South Korean prisoners of the 1950s war believed to be alive in Pyongyang's custody¹².

He says determining the status of South Korean prisoners of war will now be a high priority item at future inter-Korean military talks.

President Roh's administration, in an effort to engage and avoid angering North Korea, has strongly downplayed the issue of prisoners of war, as well as that of about 500 other South Koreans believed to have been abducted¹³ by the North.

At North Korea's request, some of Roh's officials even stopped using the term "prisoners of war" in favor of a politically more neutral term meaning "people missing during and after the war."

Lee's team announced other major changes last week, saying improving North Korea's human rights practices and getting rid of its nuclear weapons will be preconditions for future inter-Korean cooperation. Lee is expected to travel to the United States soon after next month's inauguration¹⁴ for a summit with President Bush aimed at tighter policy integration¹⁵ with Washington.

1 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。

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 consultations   

n.磋商（会议）( consultation的名词复数 )；商讨会；协商会；查找

参考例句：

• Consultations can be arranged at other times by appointment. 磋商可以通过预约安排在其他时间。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Consultations are under way. 正在进行磋商。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

5 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

6 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

7 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

8 prematurely   

adv.过早地，贸然地

参考例句：

• She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产，肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了，不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句

9 dilutes   

稀释，冲淡( dilute的第三人称单数 )； 削弱，使降低效果

参考例句：

• On the plus side, wind dilutes and scatters air pollutants, and carries pollen. 从好处来说，风能稀释和驱散空气中的污染物质，传播花粉。
• Ubiquity might not be toxic to authenticity, but it certainly dilutes it. 普遍性或许不至于毒害原真性，但确实会削弱它。

10 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

11 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。

12 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

13 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

14 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

15 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。