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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Seoul Sponsors Korean Unification Fair
SEOUL—
Although relations between the two Koreas have deteriorated1 over the North’s nuclear program, past military provocations2 and human rights abuses, many Koreans still hold out hope for eventual3 peaceful re-unification. A “unification fair” was held this week in Seoul, where border communities promoted the benefits of increased cooperation and North Korean defectors shared their stories of assimilating into the South.
Shin Eun-ha, a North Korean defector, became famous in the South after being featured on a television dating program. Her message for all Koreans who come to this event organized by South Korea’s Unification Ministry4 is that what unites them is stronger than the governments and ideologies5 that divide them.
“I would like to tell South Koreans that love, happiness and hope also exist in North Korea,” she said.
Over 160 civic6 groups, businesses and local governments set up exhibits in the heart of Seoul to voice support for ending the division of the Korean peninsula.
Korea was split 70 years ago, at the end of World War II, and the two Koreas remain on wartime footing since their war in the 1950s. Relations have deteriorated since 2010, when Seoul accused Pyongyang of sinking a South Korean warship7.
South Korea’s imposed sanctions on the North - called the May 24th measures - included ending a local Kyungsang province project that sent thousands of strawberry plants across the border each year.
Kwon Moon-soo of the Kyungsang agriculture association said it is time to lift these restrictions8.
“This year marks the 70th anniversary of the division and reunification is becoming more difficult as the years pass,” said Kwon.
Kangwon Province is the only divided province on the Korean peninsula. South of the border the province will host the 2018 Winter Olympics. To the North lies Mt. Keumgang, which was a special joint9 tourist zone until 2008, when the killing10 of a visitor by North Korean soldiers ended the venture.
Kangwon Province official Kim Jung-yoon said reopening the mountain project would offer a message of hope.
“Even though the tours have been stopped, if they resume, it will be meaningful for the economy and significant for the reunification effort," said Kim.
Pyongyang has repeatedly rejected Seoul’s offers to talk about unification, saying the economically advanced South only wants to absorb the impoverished11 North. While high-level negotiations12 have stalled, many here hope restarting local projects may help bring a peaceful resolution to the seven-decade standoff.
1 deteriorated | |
恶化,变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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2 provocations | |
n.挑衅( provocation的名词复数 );激怒;刺激;愤怒的原因 | |
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3 eventual | |
adj.最后的,结局的,最终的 | |
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4 ministry | |
n.(政府的)部;牧师 | |
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5 ideologies | |
n.思想(体系)( ideology的名词复数 );思想意识;意识形态;观念形态 | |
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6 civic | |
adj.城市的,都市的,市民的,公民的 | |
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7 warship | |
n.军舰,战舰 | |
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8 restrictions | |
约束( restriction的名词复数 ); 管制; 制约因素; 带限制性的条件(或规则) | |
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9 joint | |
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合 | |
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10 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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11 impoverished | |
adj.穷困的,无力的,用尽了的v.使(某人)贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 );使(某物)贫瘠或恶化 | |
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12 negotiations | |
协商( negotiation的名词复数 ); 谈判; 完成(难事); 通过 | |
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