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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
South and North Korea have resumed traffic across their tense border to a jointly2 run industrial zone, renewing hopes for the project's viability3. The move reflects a thaw4 in tensions after recent diplomatic moves between the two Koreas.
South Korean cargo5 trucks head to the North Korean city of Kaesong, 1 Sept 2009
South Korean Unification Ministry6 spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said Tuesday that traffic across the North Korean border is set to resume at levels not seen for more than a year.
She says starting from Tuesday, up to 23 trips will be allowed back and forth7 across the North-South border to a joint1 industrial zone in the North Korean city of Kaesong. Up to four trips a day will be permitted between South Korea and a joint resort zone at the North's Kumgang mountain.
Traffic to both zones nearly ground to a halt soon after the inauguration8 of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak early last year. Mr. Lee ended the practice of his two predecessors9 of transferring hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and investment to the North, regardless of how it behaved. The Lee administration says economic help will be conditioned on the North's willingness to give up nuclear weapons.
However, the North has made diplomatic overtures10 to the South recently including a recent meeting between senior envoys11 and President Lee.
South Korean companies employ more than 30,000 low-wage North Korean workers in the Kaesong complex, producing goods like cosmetics12 and sportswear. For those companies, the resumption of normal traffic is cause for celebration.
Park Young-man is the executive director of the Corporation of Kaesong Industrial Council.
Park says the news made his fellow managers cheerful, and even boisterous13. He says this is the high season for manufacturing, and many clients have been phoning with positive expectations.
Yoo Chang-gun, vice-chairman of the Corporation of Kaesong Industrial Council, is approaching the news with caution.
Yoo says he thinks it will take considerable time to recover from the huge blow that the border closure has dealt to companies operating in Kaesong. He says even loyal clients had stopped ordering from his company because of the border uncertainty14. He hopes the South Korean government will get actively15 involved in assisting with a Kaesong zone recovery.
Separately, North Korean media report a senior diplomatic team has gone to China. Beijing hosts six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programs. Pyongyang abandoned those talks in April, shortly before it conducted its second nuclear weapons test.
1 joint | |
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合 | |
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2 jointly | |
ad.联合地,共同地 | |
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3 viability | |
n.存活(能力) | |
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4 thaw | |
v.(使)融化,(使)变得友善;n.融化,缓和 | |
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5 cargo | |
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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6 ministry | |
n.(政府的)部;牧师 | |
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7 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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8 inauguration | |
n.开幕、就职典礼 | |
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9 predecessors | |
n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 );前辈;(被取代的)原有事物;前身 | |
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10 overtures | |
n.主动的表示,提议;(向某人做出的)友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 );(歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的)序曲,前奏曲 | |
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11 envoys | |
使节( envoy的名词复数 ); 公使; 谈判代表; 使节身份 | |
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12 cosmetics | |
n.化妆品 | |
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13 boisterous | |
adj.喧闹的,欢闹的 | |
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14 uncertainty | |
n.易变,靠不住,不确知,不确定的事物 | |
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15 actively | |
adv.积极地,勤奋地 | |
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