朝鲜在冬奥会上临时取消朝美高层会谈

North Korea pulled out of what would have been the highest-level meeting with US officials in almost two decades less than two hours before it was scheduled to start, White House officials have revealed.

白宫官员透露，朝鲜在预定会谈前不到两小时取消了一次朝美高层会谈。这次会谈如果举行，将是这两个国家近20年来最高级别的会谈。

According to US officials, North Korea “dangled” an opportunity for Mike Pence, US vice-president, to meet a high-level political delegation from Pyongyang following the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in South Korea earlier this month.

据美国官员透露，朝鲜曾抛出一个机会：在冬奥会开幕式结束之后，让美国副总统迈克•彭斯(Mike Pence)会晤平壤的高级别政治代表团。

But hours before Mr Pence was to meet Kim Yo Jong — the influential sister of North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un — the reclusive regime backed out in a move US officials said was a result of Mr Pence’s tough rhetoric.

但在预定的彭斯和金与正(Kim Yo Jong)——朝鲜最高领导人金正恩(Kim Jong Un)的有影响力的妹妹——的会晤之前不到两小时，这个与世隔绝的政权取消了会晤安排。美国官员们表示，这是彭斯强硬言论的一个结果。

“As we’ve said from day one . . .  the administration will stand in the way of Kim’s desire to whitewash their murderous regime with nice photo ops at the Olympics,” said Nick Ayers, chief of staff to the vice-president.

“正如我们在第一天所说的……本届行政当局不会配合金氏用奥运会上的漂亮照片来粉饰其血腥政权的愿望，”美国副总统的幕僚长尼克•艾尔斯(Nick Ayers)表示。

“Perhaps that is why they walked away from the meeting or perhaps they were never sincere about sitting down.”

“也许这就是为什么他们取消会晤，抑或他们从来没有诚意坐下来谈。”

North Korea has a long history of cancelling meetings and walking away from negotiations as a means to increase its leverage.

朝鲜一贯倾向于取消会议和从谈判桌起身离开，将其作为一种增加己方筹码的手段。

The revelation adds a new twist to the Olympic diplomacy, which has seen Mr Kim attempt to exploit the differences in strategy between allies Washington and Seoul.

这事为奥运外交增添了一个新的情节转折;金正恩试图在本届冬奥会上利用华盛顿与首尔之间在战略上的分歧。

Under President Moon Jae-in, South Korea is seeking to engage with North Korea in the hope that dialogue can eventually lead to negotiations on the regime’s nuclear weapons programme.

文在寅(Moon Jae-in)总统领导的韩国寻求与朝鲜接触，希望对话最终能够引向围绕朝鲜核武计划的谈判。

The US, meanwhile, has adopted a “maximum pressure” approach to North Korea in an attempt to coerce it to abandon its arsenal of atomic weapons.

与此同时，美国对朝鲜采取“最大压力”姿态，力求迫使其放弃核武。

Before the games’ opening ceremony on February 9, there were tentative hopes that Mr Pence could meet Ms Kim on the sidelines, despite the US vice-president’s hardline rhetoric about the regime.

在2月9日举行冬奥会开幕式之前，外界曾萌生微弱希望：尽管美国副总统对平壤政权撂下狠话，但彭斯可能会在场外会晤金与正。

En route to South Korea, Mr Pence announced new sanctions on the North. He then met defectors who had escaped the isolated country.

在前往韩国途中，彭斯宣布对朝鲜实施新的制裁。然后，他会晤了逃离朝鲜的脱北者。

“North Korea would have strongly preferred the vice-president not use the world stage to call attention to those absolute facts or to display our strong alliance with those committed to the maximum pressure campaign,” Mr Ayers added.

“朝鲜本来强烈希望副总统不要利用世界舞台来唤起世人对这些绝对事实的关注，不要展现出我们与那些致力于最大压力努力的人们之间的坚强同盟，”艾尔斯补充说。

The US state department said: “We will not apologise for American values, for calling attention to human rights abuses.”

美国国务院表示：“我方不会为美国的价值观、为提请世人关注侵犯人权行为道歉。”

During the opening ceremony, Mr Pence ignored Ms Kim and the rest of the delegation from Pyongyang, which included Kim Yong Nam, the 90-year-old ceremonial head of state.

在冬奥会开幕式上，彭斯对金与正以及平壤代表团的其余成员视若不见，包括90岁的朝鲜名义国家元首金永南(Kim Yong Nam)。

The display, while later criticised and mocked in western and South Korean media, was lauded by US officials for not giving face to the “most oppressive regime on earth”.

这一姿态尽管后来在西方和韩国媒体上受到批评和嘲弄，但受到美国官员称赞，称不给“地球上最压制的政权”面子。

The Pyongyang officials pulled out of the meeting the next day.

1 次日平壤官员取消了会晤。