美国国家公共电台 NPR South Korean Officials Meet Kim Jong Un To Pave The Way For U.S. Talks

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

South Korea, like the United States, has an intelligence chief. South Korea also has a head of a national security council. It is safe to say that for those two South Koreans, job No. 1 is to get inside the head of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, their neighbor who periodically threatens them with war and who, under normal circumstances, they would never, ever, ever get to meet. Today, they're meeting him. They're part of a South Korean delegation¹ making a trip to Pyongyang. NPR's Elise Hu covers the Koreas for us, joins us now from Seoul.

Hi, Elise.

ELISE HU, BYLINE²: Hi there.

INSKEEP: Is this as big a deal as it seems?

HU: It is. This is believed to be the first time Kim Jong Un has spoken face to face with South Korean officials since he took power in 2011. And it's part of this diplomatic offensive that he's been on since January 1. It's all happened rather quickly and quite a departure from last year when all we saw was a string of weapons tests and rhetoric⁴ from both North Korean state media and Kim himself and U.S. President Donald Trump⁵. So a lot has happened diplomatically here on the Korean Peninsula just within the last couple of months.

INSKEEP: Well, what is the purpose of the trip?

HU: We'll find out soon what comes out of the meeting itself, but this 10-member delegation was sent by South Korean President Moon Jae-in. It's a reciprocal trip. So this comes after the North Korean leaders made a trip to the Winter Olympics...

INSKEEP: Oh, yeah.

HU: ...Last month. And the envoy⁶ essentially⁷ are hoping to discuss preconditions for not only an inter-Korean summit between Moon and Kim Jong Un possibly, but also preconditions for a potential U.S.-North Korea dialogue to take place.

INSKEEP: OK, preconditions - that just means agreeing on what the terms of debate would be, what they would be talking about. What preconditions has the United States set for talking with North Korea?

HU: Well, we've talked about this a few times now. And the Trump administration has said it doesn't want to have any formal dialogue unless North Korea is willing to talk about giving up its nuclear weapons. President Trump spoke³ at a Washington dinner this weekend and said, "North Korea, by the way, called up a couple of days ago," which we don't know, you know, if that's the case - but he said, "North Korea called up a couple of days ago and said, we would like to talk. And I said, so would we, but you have to denuke, you have to denuke." That's the direct quote from President Trump but not a detailed⁸ policy statement. That does however - right.

INSKEEP: Yeah, we should be clear this was at the Gridiron Dinner, so the president is telling jokes. He goes on to say, I would not rule out direct talks with Kim Jong Un. As far as the risk of dealing⁹ with a madman is concerned, that's his problem, not mine - president of the United States.

HU: So - right. Right now, we're not clear whether he was joking or whether this is a policy statement. But clearly, the position of the United States has been that they don't want to meet or that the country doesn't want to meet with North Korea without denuclearization being on the table.

INSKEEP: Well, where does that leave things if North Korea is not willing to put its nuclear program on the table at all?

HU: Right. That's right. North Korea has said it wants to go to the table as equals. And there is possibly wiggle room if the U.S. maybe softens¹⁰ its stance and says that North Korea maybe agreeing to freeze - to a freeze or a moratorium¹¹ in developing its program, that might be enough to start a dialogue. But this is all unclear right now, Steve.

INSKEEP: If it's not too likely soon that North Korea's president will be talking with President Trump or that North Korea would be talking directly with Americans, could North Korea's president be talking with South Korea's president anytime soon?

HU: It could. President Moon practically agreed to go to Pyongyang after Kim Jong Un's sister delivered the invite when she came here to South Korea for the Olympics. But President Moon said the conditions for that meeting still have to be set first. And one of the South Korean president's conditions was that North Korea make a more concerted effort to have dialogue with the U.S. And it's clear that that seems to be happening now with the summit between Kim Jong Un and the South Korean envoys¹² in Pyongyang.

INSKEEP: Do all of these talks make things feel less tense?

HU: They do. You know, Seoul and Washington are expected to start military exercises, though, in early April, so there's not a whole lot of time for this cooldown to turn into something more promising¹³ diplomatically. So we'll - we will see.

INSKEEP: NPR's Elise Hu, thanks very much.

HU: You bet.

INSKEEP: She's in Seoul.

1 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

2 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。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

5 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。

6 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

10 softens   

（使）变软( soften的第三人称单数 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• Iron softens with heat. 铁受热就软化。
• Moonlight softens our faults; all shabbiness dissolves into shadow. 月光淡化了我们的各种缺点，所有的卑微都化解为依稀朦胧的阴影。 来自名作英译部分

11 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

12 envoys   

使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份

参考例句：

• the routine tit for tat when countries expel each other's envoys 国家相互驱逐对方使节这种惯常的报复行动
• Marco Polo's travelogue mentions that Kublai Khan sent envoys to Malgache. 马可波罗游记中提到忽必烈曾派使节到马尔加什。

13 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。