VOA标准英语2009年-North Korea Ready for 'Specific' US-Only T

North Korea says it may be ready to talk again, but not in the six-nation format¹ it has taken part in over the last five years. This time, Pyongyang says it will only talk with the United States. The United States is rejecting North Korea's offer to hold one-on-one talks on its nuclear weapons program.

A State Department spokesman said Monday that any bilateral² meeting with the North can only be part of the six-party talks that include China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea.

But North Korea has declared those talks dead.

North Korea took what some view as a small step back from confrontation³ Monday, offering the possibility of dialogue to ease tensions.

However, the statement from Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry⁴ reaffirmed the North's stance that six-nation talks on ending its nuclear programs are dead.

A North Korean news announcer speaks of "another method" of settling recent tensions.

That other method, says the North Korean statement, is a "specific and reserved" form of dialogue that would take place only between North Korea and the United States. Pyongyang says the six-nation format did not ensure "equality and respect," and instead sought only to "disarm⁵ and incapacitate" the North.

The dialogue offer is being seen, on one hand, as a step back from months of provocation⁶ by Pyongyang, including a long-range rocket launch and a second nuclear weapons test. Others see the North's rejection⁷ of the six-nation talks as a power play.

Yoon Duk-min, with Seoul's Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, says the six-party talks were basically five against one, and North Korea could not win in that format. So, he says North Korea wants a direct conversation with Washington in hope of obtaining the type of de facto recognition of nuclear weapons status that India and Pakistan enjoy.

The United States has stated repeatedly that it will never accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons state. On Sunday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton repeated that the multilateral framework was the only way to engage North Korea.

North Korea has asserted for years that its nuclear weapons program is a problem to be resolved only between itself and the United States. President Barak Obama, like his predecessor⁸ George W. Bush, maintains the nuclear issue is of vital concern to North Korea's neighbors - China, Russia, Japan, and South Korea.

Lee Sang-hyun, an international security scholar at the Sejong Institute in Seoul, says North Korea needs to show more sincerity⁹ if it wants to talk with the United States.

Lee says North Korea needs to take some positive action rather than just issue statements. For example, he says, North Korea should take the initiative in inviting¹⁰ the U.S. to discuss two American journalists being detained in the North - an invitation Washington would find difficult to decline

1 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

2 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。

3 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

6 provocation   

n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因

参考例句：

• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation.他是火爆性子，一点就着。
• They did not react to this provocation.他们对这一挑衅未作反应。

7 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

8 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

9 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。

10 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。