2007年VOA标准英语-US Says Ministerial Meeting of Korea Nuclear Ta

By David Gollust
Washington
14 September 2007

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Christopher Hill speaks during a press briefing about a bilateral meeting with North Korean envoys in Geneva, Switzerland, 31 Aug. 2007

The chief U.S. envoy² to the negotiations⁴ on ending North Korea's nuclear program says Friday the first ministerial-level meeting of the six-party talks could occur pretty soon. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill goes to Beijing for another envoy-level session next week. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

Envoys of the six parties are to convene⁵ in Beijing the middle of next week, amid signs the process under which North Korea is to abandon its nuclear program in return for aid and diplomatic benefits is gaining momentum⁷.

Technical experts from the United States, Russia and China were in North Korea this week to examine ways the country's nuclear reactor⁸ at Yongbyon can be disabled under terms of the disarmament deal reached in broad form in September of 2005, and finalized⁹ last February.

At a news conference, Assistant Secretary Hill expressed satisfaction with results of the experts' visit, which came at North Korea's invitation.

He said he and fellow envoys next week will map out a plan for actually disabling the Yongbyon facility by the end of the year, and for completing the declaration of all North Korea's nuclear holdings including weapons required under the February accord.

Hill said if the envoys meeting is a success, the first foreign ministers' meeting of the six party process could occur shortly thereafter and would address the end-stage of the disarmament process. "This would be a real sign that we've kind of achieved a little momentum in this process. They'd review what we've been doing. And then they'd look ahead, a sort of sneak¹⁰ preview of the next phase, and I think the ministers will want to look very carefully at things like the Northeast Asia Peace and Security Mechanism¹¹ idea that we have. And I think they would like to look ahead what we envision as the final stage of de-nuclearization, which is the abandonment of the fissile material - the weapons - pursuant to the opening paragraph of the September '05 statement," he said.

The six-party talks, which began in 2003, include North and South Korea, Russia, Japan, the United States and host China. The ministerial level session, likely to be held in October, would include a first-ever meeting between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-Chun.

Hill faced several questions about news reports this week quoting U.S. intelligence sources as saying North Korea may be cooperating with Syria on building some sort of nuclear facility in the Middle East country.

The reports have been cited by U.S. domestic critics of the six-party process as evidence that North Korea, while talking disarmament, may be engaged in nuclear proliferation.

Hill said he was not in a position to discuss what U.S. intelligence may know about such activity. But he stressed that ending North Korean proliferation activity is a high U.S. priority. "I can assure you that the issue of proliferation is and has been since the beginning of the six-party process very much on our minds. Because again, what is the problem with nuclear weapons in North Korea? One, it's a problem of regional stability. Two, it's a problem that these weapons and programs could find themselves elsewhere. So this has always has been a big concern of ours and will continue to be," he said.

Hill said the United States is preparing to ship heavy fuel oil to North Korea, which under the February agreement was promised one million tons of oil or equivalent aid from the others in the six-party talks in return for disarmament steps.

The senior diplomat⁶ also said the United States is considering, outside of the nuclear talks, the provision of substantial food aid to North Korea to make up for crop losses in recent floods there.

Despite its political differences with the communist state, the United States has long been a major supplier of humanitarian¹² aid to North Korea.

1 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

2 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。

3 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。

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。

6 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

7 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

8 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

9 finalized   

vt.完成（finalize的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The draft of this article has been finalized [done]. 这篇文章已经定稿。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The draft was revised several times before it was finalized. 稿子几经删改才定下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

11 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

12 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。