VOA标准英语2010年-North Korea Scraps Military Safeguards

South Korean Navy Patrol Combat Corvettes stage an anti-submarine exercise at off the western coast town of Taean, 27 May 2010

In a sharp escalation¹ of tensions with South Korea, North Korea says it is discarding military procedures the two sides have agreed to follow for years to ensure a conflict does not get out of hand.

 The general staff of the North Korean People's Army issued a notice Thursday dismantling² a wide range of security guarantees it has observed for years.

Pyongyang says it will completely nullify a bilateral³ agreement with the South that was put in place to prevent clashes in waters west of the Korean peninsula.  That is the maritime⁴ region where North Korea has disputed a sea border for decades and where an international team of investigators⁵ concluded a North Korean submarine sank a South Korean patrol ship in March, killing⁶ 46 sailors.

The North says it will stop using maritime shortwave radio frequencies with the South and cut off other means of emergency communication.

That warning came as South Korea's navy conducted anti-submarine warfare⁷ drills off its west coast.  South Korea and the United States have announced they will conduct a joint⁸ anti-submarine exercise, widely expected to take place within a matter of weeks.

The North Korean military notice, carried on state-run media, also said South Korean ships and aircraft will no longer be allowed passage through the North's territorial⁹ space. Pyongyang says it may also prevent access into or out of a joint industrial complex in the North Korean city, Kaesong, potentially trapping hundreds of South Korean business managers there.

Thursday's notice is the latest unraveling of inter-Korean agreements put in place since a historic 2000 summit to ease tensions and encourage exchanges between the two sides. Yang Moo-jin, a scholar with the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, says the North is "playing hard ball".

He says North Korea's actions block any exchange of people and resources between the Koreas. He says it is an all-out shutdown.

Regularly scheduled tours of South Korea's side of the heavily armed inter-Korean border were abruptly¹⁰ curtailed¹¹ Thursday after the North's announcement came out, as a safety precaution.

Professor Yang says the situation could easily escalate¹².

He says the power struggle taking place between the two Korea's could result in what he says could be "some of the most terrible things to happen since the Korean War".
 
 
 

1 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

2 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

3 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。

4 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

5 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

9 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

10 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

11 curtailed   

v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Spending on books has been severely curtailed. 购书开支已被大大削减。
• Their public health programme had to be severely curtailed. 他们的公共卫生计划不得不大大收缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。