VOA标准英语2009年-S. Korean Scholar: North Experiencing Disc

By Kurt Achin
Seoul
22 October 2009

A leading North Korea researcher and adviser¹ to South Korea's president says the North is experiencing some friction² at the very top of the ruling Kim family. The North's leader may have temporarily halted a succession process to calm his son's ambitions.

 
Kim Jong Il (File photo)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il appears to have been having disagreements with the son he hand picked to replace him one day, according to one of South Korea's most respected analysts³ of intelligence about the North.

Nam Sung-wook heads the Institute for National Security Strategy in Seoul. He is a key adviser to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, and is widely seen as one of the South's best informed individuals about developments inside North Korea. 

Nam told a forum⁴ this week, Kim Jong Il has not been pleased with his son, Kim Jong Eun.

During June and July, says Nam, Kim Jong Il has been arguing with his son about issues related to managing the country's military. He says the elder Kim has been exerting pressure on his son as well as senior North Korean official Jang Son-taek, a relative believed to be grooming⁵ him. That is why, says Nam, internal North Korean talk about the succession issue has been quiet since August.

Kim Jong Il is believed to have designated Kim Jong Eun, his youngest son, as an eventual⁶ successor earlier this year. Mr. Kim suffered an apparent stroke last summer, which may have fueled the urgency of establishing a succession process.

Nam's lecture this week offered a rare glimpse into North Korean behavior, as well as its interaction with the South. He says in August, when senior North Korean officials visited the South to pay respects to deceased President Kim Dae-jung, President Lee spoke⁷ to them in stern tones.

"We are living in the 21st century", Nam says Mr. Lee told the North Korean visitors, adding, this is not the old days, do not try to solve everything with military provocations⁸. The South Korean president also apparently⁹ warned the envoys¹⁰ that it would be the North's "attitude" that determines the future of economic cooperation projects like a tourism resort at the North's Mount Kumgang. Nam says at that point, one of the North Korean visitors vowed¹¹ to "do his best," and bowed to the South's president.

Nam says President Lee went on to tell the North Korean visitors Pyongyang should not think it can misbehave and then expect rewards for correcting its behavior. Mr. Lee told the visitors, according to Nam, those kind of tactics will not be tolerated by his administration.

President Lee ended 10 years of relatively¹² uncritical South Korean handouts¹³ of publicly funded aid and investment in the North when he took office early last year. The North initially¹⁴ responded by cutting off dialogue and referring to Mr. Lee repeatedly as a "traitor¹⁵."

In recent months, the North has made several concessions¹⁶ to the South, including permitting a reunion of families separated by the 1950s Korean War. 

1 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

2 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

3 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

4 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

5 grooming   

n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发

参考例句：

• You should always pay attention to personal grooming. 你应随时注意个人仪容。
• We watched two apes grooming each other. 我们看两只猩猩在互相理毛。

6 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

7 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。

8 provocations   

n.挑衅( provocation的名词复数 )；激怒；刺激；愤怒的原因

参考例句：

• We cannot ignore such provocations. 对于这种挑衅，我们不能置之不理。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They must immediately cease all their provocations. 他们必须停止一切挑衅。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 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。

11 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

12 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

13 handouts   

救济品( handout的名词复数 )； 施舍物； 印刷品； 讲义

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts. 士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Even after losing his job, he was too proud to accept handouts. 甚至在失去工作后，他仍然很骄傲，不愿接受施舍。

14 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

15 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

16 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。