美国国家公共电台 NPR--North Korea is being monitored for its first test of a nuclear weapon in 5 years

North Korea is being monitored for its first test of a nuclear weapon in 5 years

Transcript¹

North Korea this year scrapped² a five-year moratorium³ on testing ballistic missiles. So far, it has not resumed testing nuclear bombs. But it is believed to be about to do that very soon.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Right after North Korea admitted its first COVID-19 outbreak, after denying for two years that it had a single case, it tested three ballistic missiles. Last week, it made this its 16th test launch of the year. Now as NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports, the U.S. and South Korea are watching for another kind of test, the first involving a nuclear weapon in five years.

ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE⁴: Deep in the mountains of North Korea, about 60 miles from the border with China, there's a village called Punggye-ri. And near that village is North Korea's main nuclear test site.

JEFFREY LEWIS: Imagine that you're next to a creek⁵ and all around you are these very tall mountains.

KUHN: Jeffrey Lewis is an arms control expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, Calif.

LEWIS: To your north, there is a tunnel entrance. And inside that mountain, there is a network of tunnels where North Korea did five of its last six nuclear tests.

KUHN: The other test was done in the same complex, but in a different tunnel. North Korea partially⁶ dismantled⁷ Punggye-ri in 2018. It declared a moratorium on nuclear testing and began a yearlong period of summit diplomacy⁸. This March, Lewis looked at satellite pictures and saw signs of construction, suggesting that North Korea could be planning to resume nuclear testing. One danger of underground nuclear tests is that radiation could leak out. But Lewis believes Punggye-ri is pretty solid.

LEWIS: There are several hundred meters of granite⁹ above those test tunnels, which is more than enough to contain even very large nuclear explosions.

KUHN: There are, of course, riskier¹⁰ ways of testing atomic bombs than detonating them underground. Adam Mount, a fellow at the Federation¹¹ of American Scientists, explains.

ADAM MOUNT: The major risk is that they mount a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile, fire it over Japan into the Pacific and detonate it above the surface of the water.

KUHN: This year, North Korea has tested many kinds of missiles - long-range, short-range, submarine-launched, train-launched, hypersonic and cruise missiles. Mount says all of these may carry nuclear warheads which first need to be tested.

MOUNT: Depending which systems they want to make nuclear-capable, it may require them to develop a generation of new nuclear warheads for those systems.

KUHN: North Korea needs to miniaturize the warheads. And to make its nuclear deterrent¹² credible¹³, Mount says, they need to prove the weapons really work.

MOUNT: Until Kim Jong Un is sure that the United States believes that he has a functional¹⁴ nuclear deterrent, he may have an incentive¹⁵ to continue to demonstrate that he does. Kim Jong Un has a very strong incentive to convince the U.S. President personally.

KUHN: President Biden will meet with South Korean President Yoon Seok-youl this Sunday in Seoul, and experts think that a nuke test this month is highly likely. This test would signal the end of a five-year-long testing moratorium. By scrapping¹⁶ the moratorium, Jeffrey Lewis says, Pyongyang will be clearing away a major obstacle to its nuclear ambitions.

LEWIS: When Kim Jong Un agreed to stop testing long-range missiles and when he agreed to stop exploding nuclear weapons, that was a real constraint¹⁷ not on his deterrent that he had at that time, but on his ability to build the deterrent that he is about to embark¹⁸ on.

KUHN: With nuclear talks between the U.S. and North Korea stalled since 2019, the prospect¹⁹ of negotiating a new moratorium appears for now to be nowhere on the horizon.

Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul.

(SOUNDBITE OF KIASMOS' "HELD")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 scrapped   

废弃(scrap的过去式与过去分词)； 打架

参考例句：

• This machine is so old that it will soon have to be scrapped. 这架机器太旧，快报废了。
• It had been thought that passport controls would be scrapped. 人们曾认为会放开护照管制。

3 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

6 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

7 dismantled   

拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消

参考例句：

• The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
• The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。

8 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

9 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

10 riskier   

冒险的，危险的( risky的比较级 )

参考例句：

• Now they are starting to demand higher returns on riskier assets. 而今他们开始在风险更高的资产上要求更高的回报。
• The problem with that: RIM's business is getting riskier every quarter. 不过问题也随之而来：RIM面临的业务风险正逐季增大。

11 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

12 deterrent   

n.阻碍物，制止物；adj.威慑的，遏制的

参考例句：

• Large fines act as a deterrent to motorists.高额罚款是对开车的人的制约。
• I put a net over my strawberries as a deterrent to the birds.我在草莓上罩了网，免得鸟歇上去。

13 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

14 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

15 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

16 scrapping   

刮，切除坯体余泥

参考例句：

• He was always scrapping at school. 他在学校总打架。
• These two dogs are always scrapping. 这两条狗总是打架。

17 constraint   

n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物

参考例句：

• The boy felt constraint in her presence.那男孩在她面前感到局促不安。
• The lack of capital is major constraint on activities in the informal sector.资本短缺也是影响非正规部门生产经营的一个重要制约因素。

18 embark   

vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机

参考例句：

• He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。
• Many people embark for Europe at New York harbor.许多人在纽约港乘船去欧洲。

19 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。