VOA标准英语2009年-Kim's Funeral Opens Door to High Level Tha

On the day South Korea formally bid farewell to its former president, the country's current president held a groundbreaking meeting with a team of high-level North Korean envoys² visiting to pay respects.
　
A vehicle putting up a portrait of late former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung leads a hearse after the funeral of Kim at the National Assembly in Seoul, 23 Aug. 2009

Senior North Korean envoys departed the South before the start of Sunday's funeral ceremony for the country's deceased former president, Kim Dae-jung-- but first, they paid a visit to current President Lee Myung-bak.

Mr. Lee's spokesman, Lee Dong-kwan, says the delegates met for thirty minutes with the South Korean president, and passed on a verbal message from North Korean leader Kim Jong ll about "cooperation" between the North and South.

President Lee's office has not publicized specific details of the North Korean leader's message.

Spokesman Lee says President Lee explained the South Korean government's consistent and resolute³ principles on North issues, and asked the delegation⁴ to explain them to Kim Jong ll. He also thanked the delegation for coming, and vowed⁵ that there is "no problem that cannot be solved" through sincere dialogue between the two sides. The North side echoed that sentiment, says Lee, by expressing the hope that North and South would indeed solve all of their problems together.

Sunday's meeting is widely seen as a breakthrough, considering that North Korea's official media regular refers to Lee Myung-bak and his administration as "traitors⁶." Mr. Lee, a conservative, ended the policy of two previous South Korean administrations which sought to engage and befriend the North by providing hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer⁷ aid and investment.

The North Koreans were in Seoul to honor the pioneer of that policy, President Kim Dae-jung, who died last week at 85.
　
S. Korean mourners offer flowers during a memorial service for the late former President Kim Dae-jung at Seoul Plaza⁸ in Seoul, 19 Aug 2009

Thousands attended the funeral for Mr. Kim, a devout⁹ Catholic, at South Korea's parliament on Sunday.

In a eulogy¹⁰, South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo says "You opened the path for inter-Korean reconciliation¹¹, exchange, and cooperation throught the first ever South-North Summit since the division of the peninsula. In the year 2000, you received the Nobel Peace Prize, once again putting Korea on the world map."

Mr. Kim's 2000 meeting with Kim Jong ll was credited with profoundly changing the character of North-South relations, paving the way for increased North-South contacts and a set of reunions for families separated by the 1950s Korean War. However, it was later tainted¹² by allegations the South paid the North nearly half a billion dollars to agree to the event.

Prime Minister Han went on to praise Kim Dae-jung's struggle to transition his country from dictatorship to democracy.

He says "often comparing yourself to the honeysuckle that survives the freezing winter, you emerged strong prevailing¹³ over the lifetime of hardship from imprisonment¹⁴, house arrest, death sentence and exile."

President Barack Obama sent a U.S. delegation to attend Sunday's funeral, including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and senior State Depeartment Envoy¹ to North Korea Stephen Bosworth.

1 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

2 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。

3 resolute   

adj.坚决的，果敢的

参考例句：

• He was resolute in carrying out his plan.他坚决地实行他的计划。
• The Egyptians offered resolute resistance to the aggressors.埃及人对侵略者作出坚决的反抗。

4 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。

5 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

6 traitors   

卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人

参考例句：

• Traitors are held in infamy. 叛徒为人所不齿。
• Traitors have always been treated with contempt. 叛徒永被人们唾弃。

7 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

8 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

9 devout   

adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness)

参考例句：

• His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
• The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。

10 eulogy   

n.颂词；颂扬

参考例句：

• He needs no eulogy from me or from any other man. 他不需要我或者任何一个人来称颂。
• Mr.Garth gave a long eulogy about their achievements in the research.加思先生对他们的研究成果大大地颂扬了一番。

11 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。

12 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 prevailing   

adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的

参考例句：

• She wears a fashionable hair style prevailing in the city.她的发型是这个城市流行的款式。
• This reflects attitudes and values prevailing in society.这反映了社会上盛行的态度和价值观。

14 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。