美国国家公共电台 NPR What's Next For South Korea After Ousting Its President

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

There are celebrations in the streets of Seoul the day after the decision to remove South Korea's president, Park Geun-hye, from office over a corruption¹ scandal.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing in Korean).

SIMON: Celebration among millions, but the high court ruling which upheld an impeachment² by lawmakers sparked violent protest from some Park supporters, and at least three people died during demonstrations³. NPR's Elise Hu is with us in Seoul. Elise, thanks for being with us.

ELISE HU, BYLINE⁴: Happy to be here.

SIMON: Now, we know Park supporters had threatened violence if she was removed. That seems to have happened. What's the situation in Seoul today?

HU: Well, as we just heard, there's more demonstrations happening in the city center. They've drawn⁵ out tens of thousands of people, but this time, Scott, it's Koreans really celebrating the president's ouster. Public opinion polls before the court verdict showed as many as 80 percent of South Koreans supported the removal of the president for her involvement in alleged⁶ bribery⁷ schemes and influence peddling⁸. So it's really a minority of voices who didn't take the decision very well.

SIMON: There's an acting⁹ president in charge, but what about after that?

HU: Well, the country is going to hold a snap election, and by law, it's required to happen within 60 days. So we'll see a compressed contest for the leadership of South Korea. And after nearly a decade of conservatives in charge here, it's really going to be an election that liberals are expected to win. One of the biggest differences between conservatives and liberals here is how they approach North Korea.

SIMON: Which, of course, this week, fired four missiles to the sea near Japan, which is further evidence that it has a growing missile program. How would new leadership in Korea affect the power balance in the region, not just with North Korea, but China?

HU: Well, liberals here in South Korea are more interested in engagement with the North, interested in drawing them out. That's really a fundamental difference than what the conservatives have been doing, which has been freezing North Korea out as punishment for this growing missile program. There's also uncertainty¹⁰ in the region overall because relations with Japan aren't that great right now over history issues. Relations with China are tense because Korea is installing a U.S. missile defense¹¹ system. And, of course, there's unease about where Asia stands with Washington because of the new Trump¹² administration. And so a new Korean administration could potentially shift policy to be more China friendly, which would then, you know, affect a longstanding alliance between Korea and the U.S.

SIMON: And finally, Elise, we understand that President Park has been voted out of office, but she's still in her office.

HU: (Laughter) That's right. She lost her power immediately after the court upheld the impeachment on Friday, but she's still holed up in the presidential palace, even though she's just a regular Joe citizen now. President Park hasn't made a statement to accept the ruling or even explain why she's not leaving. We reached out to a spokesman today for a timeline on when Park might actually move out of taxpayer-funded housing. And he said he didn't know.

SIMON: Elise Hu in Seoul, thanks so much.

HU: You bet.

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

3 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。

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 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

6 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

7 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

8 peddling   

忙于琐事的，无关紧要的

参考例句：

• He worked as a door-to-door salesman peddling cloths and brushes. 他的工作是上门推销抹布和刷子。
• "If he doesn't like peddling, why doesn't he practice law? "要是他不高兴卖柴火，干吗不当律师呢？

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

10 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。