朝鲜花2400万美元在柬埔寨建博物馆赚外汇

AS IT IS 2016-06-13 North Korea Builds Cambodian Museum 朝鲜花2400万美元在柬埔寨建博物馆赚外汇

North Korea has spent $24 million and four years building the 6,000-square-meter, 35-meter-high Angkor Panorama¹ Museum in Siem Reap², Cambodia.

The Angkor museum shows Khmer warriors³ fighting using spears, swords and large elephants. The 12th century Angkorian Empire built huge religious centers, called temples. They are now UNESCO World Heritage⁴ sites.

The Cambodian government worked with North Korea’s Mansudae Art Studio to build the museum and create paintings for it. The museum opened in December.

Mansudae was created in 1959 to tell about North Korea and its ruling family. The stories are often untrue or highly exaggerated.

The studio creates large projects. Its website says it has 4,000 workers, about a quarter of whom are artists. It says its studio is 120,000 square meters large, about 80,000 of which are indoors. It says the studio is “probably the largest art production center in the world and by far the largest and most important” in North Korea.

Yit Chandaroat is the vice⁵ executive⁶ director of the Angkor museum. He told VOA’s Khmer service that visitors “feel as if they are right there during the Angkor era. They feel as if they are with the people selling vegetables [or] those on the fighting elephants in the painting.”

The museum has a 13-meter-high, 123-meter-long, 360-degree mural showing thousands of warriors and artisans at war and work during the 12th century. Sixty-three North Korean painters worked on the mural for two years. It is so realistic that some visitors believe it is a picture rather than a painting.

Keo Samoun lives in Banteay Meanchey province in Cambodia. She says the mural is “amazing. I can see everything. Just sitting here in one place you can see everything.”

She went to the museum after visiting Angkor Wat and the Bayon Temple. She said the museum helps people understand the history of the temples. She said it is easier to visit the museum than some of the temples spread throughout the province.

Chandaroat says people should visit the museum before they go to the nearby temples. He said the more than 40,000 images of ancient warriors, artisans, farmers and animals help people understand the history of the temples and when they were built.

Thai Norak Sathya is the Secretary of State of Cambodia’s Ministry⁷ of Culture and Fine Arts. He told VOA North Korea built the museum because of its relationship with the country’s king. He said it is not designed to make money for North Korea.

“Let me tell you that the North Korean company completely abides⁹ by the technical condition and Khmer style of art. So, it is not the nature of this business to generate¹⁰ income.”

The museum has not earned as much money as officials thought it would. About 90 percent of visitors are Cambodian. Foreign tourists bring valuable foreign currency to Siem Reap’s economy. But many say they do not plan to visit the museum.

Sarah and Ashley are from Britain. They say they have traveled a long way and do not want to see just a painting of the Angkor temples.

Sarah told VOA she is “quite surprised that they invested so much outside North Korea.”

Ashley said “I want to see the real things. That is what I am here for. That is what we are going to do today. I am not interested [in going] to the museum.”

Christelle Bimar is a traveler from France. She is visiting Siem Reap with her two sons. She did not know about the museum.

“I am not aware of what’s inside,” she said. She was sitting in her chair in the shade of a palm tree in front of the Angkor temple.

“But, yes, I think Angkor and Siem Reap deserve to have many more museums,” she said.

Chandaroat says North Korea’s decision to build the museum was an act of friendship. The agreement between the two countries says North Korea would be paid back the $24 million investment.

The museum will then be fully¹¹ owned by Cambodia under the agreement within 20 years.

Words in This Story

panorama – n. a full and wide view of something

era – n. a period of time that is associated with a particular quality, event, person, etc.

realistic – adj. showing people and things as they are in real life

abide⁸ by – phrasal verb obey; to accept and be guided by (something)

shade – n. an area of slight darkness that is produced when something blocks the light of the sun

1 panorama   

n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置]

参考例句：

• A vast panorama of the valley lay before us.山谷的广阔全景展现在我们面前。
• A flourishing and prosperous panorama spread out before our eyes.一派欣欣向荣的景象展现在我们的眼前。

2 reap   

v.得到，获得（报酬、成果等），收割，收获

参考例句：

• It is not easy to reap the harvest of my hard work.获得自己辛勤工作的成果是不容易的。
• As a man sows,so he shall reap.种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆。

3 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

4 heritage   

n.传统，遗产，继承物

参考例句：

• The ancient buildings are part of the national heritage.这些古建筑是民族遗产的一部分。
• We Chinese have a great cultural heritage.我们中国人有伟大的文化遗产。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

7 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。

8 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

9 abides   

容忍( abide的第三人称单数 )； 等候； 逗留； 停留

参考例句：

• He abides by his friends. 他忠于朋友。
• He always abides by the law. 他素来守法。

10 generate   

vt.生成，产生（光、热、电等）导致

参考例句：

• We need someone to generate new ideas.我们需要有人出新主意。
• This book will continue to generate excitement for a long time.这本书将在很长一段时间里继续使人们为之激动。

11 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。