VOA常速英语2015--韩国人每周坚持抗议日本二战暴行

 

Weekly Korea Protests Keep Japanese WWII Atrocities¹ Alive 韩国人每周坚持抗议日本二战暴行

SEOUL—

Protesters gather in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul every week to demand an apology and reparations from Tokyo for the thousands of South Korean women who were forced into prostitution during World War II. Although this year marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, these protesters have helped keep the issue of comfort women alive and made it difficult for Japan to move beyond its past wartime atrocities.

每个星期，抗议者都聚集在日本驻首尔大使馆前，要求日本为二战期间强迫成千上万的妇女充当军妓而道歉赔款。虽然今年二战已经结束70年了，但是这些每周坚持不懈的抗议告诉人们，慰安妇问题并没有成为陈年往事，日本也难以走出战时暴行的阴影。

There are only a few surviving elderly women in South Korea who were forced into sex slavery during World War II. But the demonstrations² in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul are attracting more young people, like 16-year-old Kwon Oh-ryung, who have become passionate³ about the issue.

二战期间被迫充当慰安妇的韩国妇女如今健在的已经没有几位了。不过，日本驻韩使馆前的示威正在吸引更多的年轻人。16岁的权伍隆（译音，Kwon Oh-ryung）一谈起这个问题就激动不已。

“Japanese doing this is such a crime to us, so we couldn’t stand it. We couldn’t bear it,” she said.

她说：“日本人对我们犯下了严重罪行，我们受不了！忍不住！”

It is estimated that over 200,000 women from across Asia were forced to become comfort women for occupying Japanese soldiers during the war.

据估计，二战期间，亚洲各地有20多万女性被迫充当日本占领军的慰安妇。

Rally organizer Yoon Mi-hyang, with the Korean Council for The Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, said they have been protesting now for nearly a quarter century.

“韩国挺身队问题对策协议会”的尹美香（Yoon Mi-hyang）说，他们已经坚持抗议将近四分之一个世纪了。

"The reason why we stand here until now is that the Japanese government has not accepted its crime and not offered an official apology and legal compensation which victims have been asking for,” she explained.

她说：“我们站在这里，坚持至今，原因是，日本政府还没有承认它的罪行，没有做出正式道歉和受害者一直要求的法律赔偿。”

The comfort women issue has become even more contentious⁴ since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe adopted a less apologetic tone toward Japan’s wartime past. His visit to a war memorial last year that included the names of war criminals angered his neighbors.

自从日本首相安倍晋三在日本战时历史问题上降低道歉调门后，慰安妇问题的争议变得更大了。安倍去年参拜靖国神社，激怒了邻国。神社供奉的亡灵包括战争罪犯。

Abe also alienated⁵ China, South Korea and other Asian countries by questioning Japan’s past apologies on the comfort women issue. Some of his conservative allies have suggested that not all the women were forced into prostitution.

安倍还对日本历届政府就慰安妇问题所做的道歉提出质疑，这也疏远了日本跟中国、韩国等亚洲国家的关系。他的一些保守派盟友示意说，并不是所有的女性都是被迫充当妓女的。

More recently, South Korea criticized Abe’s visit to Jerusalem, including a holocaust⁶ memorial for victims of German war crimes, saying that he will be taken seriously when he addresses Japan’s atrocities.

前不久，韩国批评了安倍对耶路撒冷的访问。安倍参观了纪念德国战争罪受害者的大屠杀纪念馆。韩国说，安倍要想向世人证明自己的诚意，必须正视日本的历史暴行。

Prime Minister Abe suggested he may alter a 1995 statement from former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, giving a broad apology for wartime damage and suffering, when he makes his own statement in August on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

安倍首相放出口风说，他在8月间二战结束70周年之际发表首相声明时，可能会修改前首相村山富市1995年所做的声明，就战时的破坏和痛苦做出宽泛的反省。

"As it is now 70 years since the end of [the second world] war, the Abe cabinet will be reflecting on what we did wrong in the last war and also on our progress as a peace loving nation,” he said.

他说：“如今战争结束70年了，安倍内阁将反省上一次战争期间我们犯下的错误，也将写入我们战后做为爱好和平的国家走过的道路。”

At the rally, a chair was left empty for a comfort women victim who recently passed away. Yoon Mi-hyang said this new generation of protesters would not let Korea’s sense of outrage⁷ dissipate after all the survivors⁸ die.

在日本使馆前的集会上，抗议者为最近逝世的一名慰安妇放了一张空椅子。尹美香说，所有的幸存者都故去后，新一代抗议者不会让民族恨烟消云散的。

“The purpose of our activity is to not repeat such a tragic⁹ event like the comfort women issue, and it is also what the victims want,” said Yoon.

尹美香说：“我们活动的目的是，不让慰安妇这类的悲剧事件重演，这是那些受害人所希望的。”

The protesters said they would not forget and not forgive until Japan makes amends¹⁰.

抗议者说，在日本改正之前，他们不会遗忘，也不会宽恕。

1 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

4 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

5 alienated   

adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
• The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

7 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

8 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

9 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

10 amends   

n. 赔偿

参考例句：

• He made amends for his rudeness by giving her some flowers. 他送给她一些花，为他自己的鲁莽赔罪。
• This country refuses stubbornly to make amends for its past war crimes. 该国顽固地拒绝为其过去的战争罪行赔罪。