VOA标准英语2009年-N. Korean Envoys Visit South to Pay Respec

For the first time, North Korea has sent a delegation¹ to present formal condolences to the family of a deceased South Korean president. The visit is a tribute to Kim Dae-jung's efforts at North-South reconciliation². But North Koreans who fled to the South at great personal danger to themselves have a skeptical³ view of the former president's legacy⁴.
　
North Korean Chief delegate Kim Ki Nam and the country's spy chief Kim Yang Gon, (R), arrive to participate in a memorial service for the late former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung in Seoul, South Korea, 21 Aug 2009

It was a rare sight Friday in the South Korean capital: Senior North Korean envoys⁵ approached a memorial to former President Kim Dae-jung with a giant funeral bouquet⁶ bearing the name of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

The six delegates arrived a short time earlier at Seoul's Kimpo airport. They included the North's intelligence chief and the senior officials of the North's ruling communist party. They depart Saturday, before Mr. Kim's state funeral on Sunday.

An announcer on North Korean state-run media reported this week that "the great leader Kim Jong Il has sent a message of condolence to former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung's family."

President Kim died this week at 85. He pioneered a new policy of South Korean reconciliation with the North, beginning with the historic 2000 Pyongyang summit. Mr. Kim won the Nobel Peace Prize after that meeting - although the event was later tarnished⁷ by allegations South Korea paid the North half a billion dollars to hold the summit.

Friday marks the first time in nearly two years that North Korean officials have set foot in South Korea. It is the first time the North has ever paid such an explicit⁸ tribute to a South Korean leader. The two countries remain technically⁹ at war, more than 50 years after fighting in the Korean War ended.

Many South Koreans look fondly on what President Kim called his sunshine policy of uncritically engaging the North, saying it transformed the relationship between the two. Others view it as overly indulgent of North Korea, glossing¹⁰ over its nuclear weapons programs and its human rights abuses.

Many of the 15,000 North Korean defectors living in the South take the latter view. They risked their lives and those of their families to flee hunger and persecution¹¹ in the North.

One recent defector says she and others like her do not feel much sorrow at Mr. Kim's passing. She says even though it is a shame that South Korea has lost a famous politician and a historic figure - North Korea policy under Kim Dae-jung, in her opinion, was handled "so wrongly."

Kim Heung Gwang was a university professor in the North, before coming to the South. He says ultimately, we have to ask whether the sunshine policy "warmed" the North enough to change. The answer, he says, is no.

1 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

2 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

3 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

4 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

5 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。

6 bouquet   

n.花束，酒香

参考例句：

• This wine has a rich bouquet.这种葡萄酒有浓郁的香气。
• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。

7 tarnished   

（通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏

参考例句：

• The mirrors had tarnished with age. 这些镜子因年深日久而照影不清楚。
• His bad behaviour has tarnished the good name of the school. 他行为不轨，败坏了学校的声誉。

8 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

9 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

10 glossing   

v.注解( gloss的现在分词 )；掩饰（错误）；粉饰；把…搪塞过去

参考例句：

• The rights and wrongs in any controversy should be clarified without compromise or glossing over. 有争论的问题，要把是非弄明白，不要调和敷衍。 来自互联网

11 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。