美国有线新闻 CNN 朝鲜最高领导人金正恩会见韩总统特使团并举行晚宴

 

Today's edition of CNN 10 begins by explaining why a dinner gathering¹ in North Korea is making news headlines around the world. There's a lot that's unknown about the nation situated² between China and South Korea. For decades, its secretive communist government has completely controlled the media, the economy, the nation's industry.

And experts say that since he took power in 2011, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has kept himself pretty close off as well, rarely meeting with people who aren't from North Korea.

That's why this dinner we're telling you about is so significant. A high ranking group from South Korea's government, including its national security leader and its national intelligence leader traveled to North Korea's capital for talks with Kim Jong-un. This is thought to be his first face to face meeting with South Korean officials and it's part of a series of friendlier interactions between North and South Korea since officials from the two sides begin talking again in advance of the Winter Olympics.

It's also a major contrast to what happened last year, when North Korea conducted weapons test that the international community considers illegal and threats were exchanged between North Korea and the U.S., an ally of South Korea.

But America and South Korea say their priority is getting the North to give up its nuclear weapons program, and while some experts are encouraged by the talks on the Korean peninsula, others are doubtful about whether they'll lead to any lasting³ peace, so they're being watched very closely worldwide.

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

3 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。