SouthKorea’s sunken warship
韩国沉没的军舰
Playingfor time
持久战
IfNorth Korea did deliberately destroy a South Korean warship, whatnext?如果真的是朝鲜蓄意击毁韩国军舰，那么接下来呢？
Apr22nd 2010 | SEOUL | From The Economist print edition
ITWAS a dignified(庄严地)address. Before wiping tears from his eyes with a foldedhandkerchief, President Lee Myung-bak (above) read out the names of46 sailors who died last month when their ship, the Cheonan, explodedin South Korean waters. He carefully avoided pinning（使不能动大头针）theblame（责备）onanyone, but on April 22nd, Yonhap（韩联社）,South Korea’s news agency, reported that the government’smilitary-intelligence agency, using intelligence gathered jointlywith America, had concluded the regime in North Korea haddeliberately attacked and destroyed the 1,200-tonne warship.
这是一次庄严凝重的讲话。韩国总统李明博在宣读完46 名遇难水兵的名单后，用一块叠好 |
nuclear-armeddespot（专制统治者）wouldbe fraughtwith （充满不愉快的事）dangerfor the peninsula, and for relations between America and China, themain backers of south and north respectively.
即使关于朝鲜牵涉此事的有形证据已经开始浮出水面，韩国总统在4月19日的谨言慎行也是可以理解的。对一个拥有核武器的独裁国家进行热血报复可能会让朝鲜半岛危机四伏，也
会让中美关系变得紧张，因为中国和美国分别是朝鲜和韩国的背后支持者。
But ever since a preliminary investigation of the Cheonan’ssalvaged（打捞营救）stern（船尾）concludedthat the blast did not come from on board the vessel, suspicions haveturned towards North Korea. This, analysts say, puts Mr Lee in themost delicate position of his two-year-old administration. If thesuspicions prove correct, a tough response would be expected andperhaps unavoidable. Yet Mr Lee had been hoping to focus on showingoff South Korea’s economic prowess as host of the Group of 20 thisyear—not the missile threat on its doorstep. The pressure on MrLee is all the greater because local elections are due on June 2nd,and they may serve as an unofficial referendum on his handling of thecrisis.
但对打捞上来的"天安"号舰尾的初步调查结果显示，爆炸当时并不来自船上。自此以后，怀疑的焦点开始转向朝鲜。分析人士称，这将上任两年的李先生放到了一个微妙的位置。如果
这些怀疑被证实，他可能无法避免作出强硬的回应，正如人们期待的那样。然而韩国作为今年二十国集团会议的东道主，李先生此前一直希望集中展示韩国的经济实力——而不是家门口的导弹威胁。对他来说压力会越来越大，因为6月2日开始的地方选举可能就是对他处理危机满意度的非正式全民投票。
Sofar, the regime in Pyongyang has only indirectly denied involvement.After three weeks of silence on the incident, it said on April 17thin a news report: “Failing to probe the cause of the sinking of theship, the puppet（木偶傀儡）militarywarmongers（战争贩子）,right-wing conservative politicians and other traitors in South Koreaare now foolishly seeking to link the sinking with the North at anycost.” A non-denial denial.
迄今为止，平壤方面只是间接否认了与沉船事件的关系。经过了事发后整整三周的沉默，朝鲜于4月17日在一则新闻报道中声称：“韩国的傀儡战争贩子、右翼保守政客和其他叛国者找不到沉船的原因，现在就开始愚蠢而不计代价地把沉船事件和北朝鲜联系起来。”这可谓是"没有否认"的否认。
Signsof aggression（好斗情绪侵犯）continue.On April 21st South Korea said it had arrested
two northern agents who, it claimed, had been sent to assassinate a prominent defector to the south. |
Thegovernment in Seoul is publicly discussing its options, but theselook limited. Yu Myung-hwan, the foreign minister, has said SouthKorea would take the matter to the UN Security Council for additionalsanctions if there werehard （确凿的）evidencethat North Korea was involved. But North Korea is already subject tostiff sanctions. Mr Yu also says stalled six-party talks on thenorth’s nuclear disarmament might be suspended indefinitely. But hehas flatly ruledout（把排除，认为不合适）callsfrom conservative politicians in the south for nuclear weapons tocounter the threat from the north.
首尔的政府正在公开讨论对策，但看起来他们手中的牌也不多。外交部长柳明桓已经表示，
如果掌握了关于朝鲜牵连此事的有力证据，韩国将会把此事递交联合国安理会以求对朝鲜更
多的制裁。但朝鲜已经受到了严厉制裁，可谓虱子多了不嫌痒。柳先生还说，目前陷入僵局
的朝核六方会谈可能会无限期暂停。但他也断然否决了保守派政客关于“以核制核”对抗北朝威胁的呼吁。
The hawks are taking wing. On April 20th the Chosun Ilbo,（朝鲜日报） the south’s |
notes,there is as yet little support in the south for warmongering, and thestockmarket has held
firm.That suggests people believe the crisis will be defused,(缓和平息)as happened after
previousflare-ups（爆发）onthe UN-mandated（授权）NorthernLimit Line,（三八线）
thedisputed maritime border. Mr Lee, who hopes to show off South Korea’seconomic prowess
（非凡技能）ashost of the G20 summit this year, is a conservative more interestedin economic
strengththan the military sort.
鹰派也开始大张旗鼓。韩国销售最大的《朝鲜日报》于4月20日撰文呼吁政府不要排除采
取军事行动的可能性。然而韩国政府内部对于主战政策的支持寥寥无几，而且股市也没有受
到任何潜在战争消息的影响，表现稳定。这说明人们相信危机将会被化解，正如以前二战
时双方的边境摩擦，最终由联合国强制执行南北分界线而平息。
Someanalystscommend（公开赞扬）himfor his handling of the crisis so far. He has bought
himselftime by refusing to speculate publicly on the cause of the blast. Yetas
commander-in-chief,he bears responsibility for the military shortcomings if, as somesuspect,
NorthKorea torpedoed the Cheonan from a semi-submersible（水下使用的）vesseland got
awaywith it.
一些分析人士对总统李明博至今为止处理危机的方式赞扬有加。他通过拒绝公开推测爆炸原
因而为自己赢得了时间。如果像有些人怀疑的那样，北朝鲜是从一艘半潜船上发射了这枚击 |
itwas—of 46 young sailors under his command is hardly likely tosoften his line.
如果这一猜测属实，许多人就会想知道朝鲜侵略行径的背后隐藏着什么。朝鲜的独裁领导人
金正日迫切渴望得到财政援助，他的政府最近已经表现出想要重返六方会谈的意愿。在韩国
最近几任总统中，李先生在资助朝鲜破产政权一直保持最为强硬的态度，他提出除非朝鲜保
证销毁其核武器在先，否则不会提供资助。这场金正日下令的对46名年轻水兵的无情谋杀
——如果真的是谋杀的话——不太可能让李先生的态度软化。
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