2007年VOA标准英语-South Korean Defense Minister to Make Historic

By Kurt Achin
Seoul
07 September 2007

South Korea has announced it will include its minister of defense¹ in an entourage traveling to North Korea for their summit meeting next month. This will be the first such defense visit since the end of the Korean War in 1953. VOA's Kurt Achin has more on the story from Seoul.

South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung announced the list of those who will join President Roh Moo-hyun next month in Pyongyang for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

Kim Jang-soo

Lee says Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo will attend with other cabinet level officials at the summit, scheduled from October 2 - 4.

No South Korean defense minister has ever traveled to North Korea. When the two countries held their historic first and only summit in 2000, the South Korean defense minister stayed behind.

North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, igniting a three-year war, which ended in a temporary armistice². That agreement has been the cornerstone of a tense detente in the decades since. But with no formal peace treaty, the two sides remain technically³ at war.

Despite warming North-South ties after the 2000 summit, occasional flashpoints do arise. Shots were exchanged briefly⁴ last month across the heavily armed border separating North and South.

The two sides have also had several deadly naval⁵ clashes in waters west of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has always rejected the maritime⁶ border at the heart of those clashes, set by the United Nations in 1953.

There is speculation⁷ that this border dispute may be on the negotiating table since the South Korean defense minister is attending the summit.

South Korea's main opposition⁸ party, whose candidate is a front-runner to replace Mr. Roh when he steps down next year, have warned him to leave the maritime border off the summit agenda. Conservative critics of the Roh administration say it too easily makes concessions⁹ to Pyongyang, which repaid the gestures by conducting its first nuclear weapon test last year.

Kim Tae-woo, an analyst¹⁰ at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul, says bringing the defense chief to next month's summit may help assuage¹¹ critics' concerns.

He says the Defense Ministry¹² is dead set against renegotiating the North-South maritime border until there is better military confidence between the two sides. Including Kim Jang-soo at the summit, he says, may make it less likely the border will be discussed.

South Korean officials have revealed almost no details about the upcoming summit's agenda, fueling speculation in South Korea's media.

1 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。

2 armistice   

n.休战，停战协定

参考例句：

• The two nations signed an armistice.两国签署了停火协议。
• The Italian armistice is nothing but a clumsy trap.意大利的停战不过是一个笨拙的陷阱。

3 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

4 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

5 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

6 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

7 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

10 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

11 assuage   

v.缓和，减轻，镇定

参考例句：

• The medicine is used to assuage pain.这种药用来止痛。
• Your messages of cheer should assuage her suffering.你带来的这些振奋人心的消息一定能减轻她的痛苦。

12 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。