VOA标准英语10月-US Floats Ideas for Breaking North Korean Nuclear

State Department officials say a senior U.S. envoy¹ is in Pyongyang, discussing ideas aimed at salvaging² the troubled accord under which North Korea would scrap³ its nuclear program. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Christopher Hill is having a second day of talks in the North Korean capital on Thursday before going on to Seoul. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.
　

U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill talks to reporters upon his arrival at the Incheon International airport west of Seoul, 30 Sep 2008

A senior official here says Hill is not making substantive⁴ concessions⁵ to North Korea on the nuclear deal, but that he is prepared to discuss changes in how the agreement is "choreographed⁶" in an effort to prevent a breakdown⁷ of the disarmament process.

Last year, North Korea agreed to scrap its nuclear program - including weapons - in return for energy aid and diplomatic benefits from the five other parties in the negotiations⁸ -- the United States, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China.

However, Pyongyang in recent weeks has reversed the process of dismantling⁹ its nuclear facilities. It says Washington reneged on a commitment to remove it from its list of state sponsors of terrorism after North Korea made a declaration of its nuclear holdings in June.

The Bush administration says de-listing North Korea was dependent on it providing the other parties with a plan to verify the declaration.

The senior official who spoke¹⁰ to reporters here in Washington said Hill is expected to propose that North Korea be removed from the terrorism list "provisionally," if it gave a verification plan to China, the chair of the six-party talks and North Korea's closest ally.

The official said the United States would expect to be informed of the contents of the verification plan, and described the idea as a change of sequencing, but not substance.

State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack rejected published suggestions that the United States is backing down on matters of substance in order to break the impasse¹¹.

"I saw this in a story that he [Hill] was bringing quote 'new proposals'. And inasmuch as that refers to any change in the substance, that would be incorrect," said Sean McCormack. "He, of course, will talk about how the process can be moved forward, and in the sort of choreography of that process. But he wasn't bringing with him any new substance in terms of proposals."

The State Department said Assistant Secretary Hill, the chief U.S. delegate to the six-party talks, met his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye Kwan on Wednesday and that he plans to hold additional meetings in Pyongyang on Thursday before returning to South Korea.

Hill is expected to brief Japanese and Russian diplomats¹² on his Pyongyang discussions in either Seoul or Beijing, and then stop in Tokyo before heading back to Washington on Saturday.

The difficulties in the disarmament process came amid reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il suffered a stroke in August, possibly disrupting the decision-making process in Pyongyang.

There have also been suggestions that North Korea may want to stall the nuclear accord until the change in U.S. administrations in January, although officials in Washington say Pyongyang should not assume it will get a better deal from the next U.S. President.

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 salvaging   

（从火灾、海难等中）抢救（某物）( salvage的现在分词 )； 回收利用（某物）

参考例句：

• A shipping company has made a claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship. 某轮船公司要求赔赏打捞沉船的费用。（make a claim 要求）
• It is not uncommon to hear that a shipping company has made a claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship. 航运公司为打捞沉船的费用而提出要求，这并非奇闻。

3 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

4 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

5 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

6 choreographed   

v.设计舞蹈动作( choreograph的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• There was some carefully choreographed flag-waving as the President drove by. 总统的车经过时，人们按精心编排的动作挥舞着旗帜。
• Achim had choreographed the dance in Act II himself. 阿希姆自己设计了第2幕的舞蹈动作。 来自辞典例句

7 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

8 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。

9 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

10 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。

11 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

12 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》