2019年经济学人 向朝鲜汇款的秘密渠道(1)

 

In February 2018 Jessie Kim found out that she had been sending money to a dead man.

2018年2月，Jessie Kim发现自己一直在给一个死人打钱。

Ms Kim, now a 27-year-old student in Seoul, fled North Korea for China in 2011.

现年Kim27岁的Kim是首尔的一名学生，2011年逃离了朝鲜。

She had been sending her father in Yanggang province in the North around $1,000 a year since she arrived in South Korea in early 2014.

自从2014年年初来到韩国后，她每年都会给她在朝鲜两江道的父亲寄近1000美元。

Two years later she doubled the contributions, working several part-time jobs,

两年后她兼职几分工作，给父亲寄了两倍的钱，

after her aunt told her that her father had been in an accident and needed money for medical bills.

因此她的姑妈告诉她，她的父亲遭遇车祸需要医疗费。

But another call from her aunt last winter, claiming that her father was asking for yet more money, made her suspicious.

但是去年冬天，她的姑妈又给她打了个电话，声称她的父亲问她要更多的钱，这个电话让她起疑。

"He wasn't the kind of man to ask his daughter for money," she says.

“他不是那种问女儿要钱的人，”她说。

Ms Kim made enquiries through the broker¹ who had facilitated the transactions.

Kim询问了帮助她汇款的经纪人。

She eventually found out that her father had died in the accident in 2016 and that the money had gone to her aunt's family instead.

最终她发现她的父亲在2016年的车祸中就已经去世了，那些钱都到了姑妈一家的手中。

Ms Kim's case illustrates² the pitfalls³ of supporting relatives in a country that is all but cut off from global communications and financial-services networks.

Kim的故事描绘出了一个和全球通讯以及金融服务网络完全切断联系的国家中，帮衬亲戚们的陷阱。

Ordinary North Koreans are not allowed to receive money or even phone calls from abroad.

普通朝鲜人不允许接收来自国外的资金，甚至是电话。

Foreign banks are hesitant to handle any transaction associated with the North, for fear of falling foul⁴ of sanctions,

外国银行在处理任何和朝鲜有关的交易时都会犹豫不决，

intended to curtail⁵ its nuclear programme, that have been imposed by America and others.

因害怕违反美国和其他国家为削减朝鲜核计划而对其实施的制裁。

Yet the relationship between the 30,000-odd North Korean refugees in South Korea

但韩国30万朝鲜逃亡者

and their relatives back home shows that the North is much less closed than at first appears.

与他们朝鲜亲戚的关系表明朝鲜并没有看起来的那么封闭。

A growing proportion of those who have settled in the South manage to send money home.

越来越多定于韩国的朝鲜逃亡者在往家里寄钱。

In 2018, 62% of refugees surveyed by the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), an NGO in Seoul,

2018年，一家首尔民间组织，朝鲜人权数据库中心（NKDB）对逃亡者进行调查，

said they had transferred funds to relatives or friends in North Korea, up from 50% in 2013.

其中62%的人表示他们给朝鲜的亲戚朋友寄过钱，比2013的50%多。

Most respondents say they sent between $500 and $2,000 a year, which was mostly spent on basic living expenses, health and education.

大部分被调查者表示他们一年会寄500到2000美元不等，多数都用于基本生活支出、健康和教育。

The annual total may run into the tens of millions of dollars.

年度总额可能共计数千万美元。

1 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

2 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

3 pitfalls   

（捕猎野兽用的）陷阱( pitfall的名词复数 )； 意想不到的困难，易犯的错误

参考例句：

• the potential pitfalls of buying a house 购买房屋可能遇到的圈套
• Several pitfalls remain in the way of an agreement. 在达成协议的进程中还有几个隐藏的困难。

4 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

5 curtail   

vt.截短，缩短；削减

参考例句：

• The government hopes to curtail public spending.政府希望缩减公共事业开支。
• The minister had to curtail his visit.部长不得不缩短访问日期。