VOA常速英语2015--韩国年轻人就慰安妇问题举行集会

韩国年轻人就慰安妇问题举行集会

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 atrocities¹.

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.

二战期间被迫沦为慰安妇的韩国老妇中只有少数仍在世，但首尔日本使馆前面的游行吸引了更多年轻人，像16岁的Kwon Oh-ryung就对这个问题非常愤慨。

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

“日本对我们犯下这样的罪行，所以我们不能忍受，不能容忍。”

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

估计二战期间整个亚洲地区有超过20万妇女被迫成为占领日军的慰安妇。

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.

游行的组织者Yoon Mi-hyang就职于“韩国挺身队问题对策协议会”，她说他们已经为此抗议了近25年。

"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.

“我们之所以到现在还站在这里，是因为日本政府至今没有承认其罪行，没有如受害者所愿进行官方道歉并提供法律赔偿。”

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对日本战争历史采取更不谦卑的态度后，慰安妇问题的争议更加激烈。安倍去年访问了一个战争纪念碑，碑上包括一些令邻国愤怒的战争罪犯的名字。

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.

安倍还对日本过去对慰安妇问题的道歉表示质疑，这就令中国、韩国等亚洲国家更加疏远日本。他的一些保守派盟友表示，不是所有慰安妇都是被迫沦为妓女的。

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.

最近，韩国批评安倍访问耶路撒冷，期间他拜访了德国战争罪受害者的大屠杀纪念馆，他说他会严肃对付日本的暴行。

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.

首相安倍表示他可能会修改前首相村山富市1995年的声明，对战时破坏和苦难进行广泛的道歉，他在8月份二战结束70周年的声明中这么表示：

"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.

“今天是二战结束70周年，安倍内阁将反思我们在这场战争中的错误，并反思作为一个爱好和平的国家我们取得的进步。”

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.

在这场集会上，一把空椅子是为最近刚过世的一位慰安妇保留的。Yoon Mi-hyang说年轻一代的抗议者不会让韩国的愤慨在所有幸存者过世后就烟消云散。

“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.

“我们活动的目的是让慰安妇这样的悲剧不要再重演，这也是受害者所希望的。”

 

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

抗议者称他们不会忘记，也不会原谅，直到日本做出补偿为止。

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。