VOA慢速英語:Tensions High on Korean Peninsula

[00:04.30]From VOA Learning English, [00:07.54]this is IN THE NEWS. [00:09.93]North Korea is urging foreign embassies [00:13.97]to consider telling their workers [00:17.59]to leave the capital, Pyongyang, [00:20.88]because of rising tensions. [00:23.57]Britain says North Korea gave the warning to embassies [00:29.10]and international organizations on Friday. [00:33.98]The North Korean government reportedly said [00:37.77]it cannot guarantee their safety after April tenth [00:43.19]in, what it called, "the event of a conflict." [00:47.72]The government has made a series of threats [00:51.37]in recent weeks against South Korea and the United States. [00:56.49]The two countries have long enjoyed a strong alliance. [01:02.03]For years, the United States stored nuclear weapons [01:07.25]in South Korea for use against the North [01:11.79]if it attacked the South. [01:14.43]Those weapons were removed in 1991. [01:18.96]But South Korean officials have been debating [01:23.29]whether to have the United States redeploy the arms. [01:29.02]North Korea has wanted to keep its military strong. [01:34.34]The North launched its first long-distance rocket in 1998. [01:41.47]After a year of negotiations, [01:44.75]North Korea agreed to stop long distance missile tests [01:50.44]in exchange for better contacts [01:53.47]with the United States and its allies. [01:57.65]As part of the 1999 agreement, [02:01.68]the North received money and food aid. [02:06.41]Since then, North Korea has gone back, periodically, [02:11.91]to using threats to get more money and food. [02:17.13]But in the past few months, [02:19.57]the war of words has gotten louder and more threatening. [02:25.45]Last December, North Korea launched a long distance rocket. [02:30.73]Then, in February, it carried out an underground nuclear test. [02:38.25]Those actions led the United Nations Security Council [02:43.88]to expand existing sanctions against North Korea. [02:49.46]The Council's decision so angered the North that this week, [02:55.58]the government said it had been given final approval [02:59.57]for a nuclear attack against the United States. [03:04.95]But many military experts do not believe [03:09.13]the North can act on the threat. [03:12.02]South Korea reported this week that North Korea [03:17.40]has moved one of its missiles to its eastern coast. [03:22.78]South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-Jin said [03:28.12]the missile appears to have what he called "considerable range." [03:33.99]But he does not believe it can reach the United States mainland. [03:40.62]American Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said [03:45.10]he is taking the threat seriously. [03:48.33]"Some of the actions they've taken over the past few weeks [03:52.32]present a real and clear danger and threat [03:58.05]certainly to the interest of our allies, [04:01.88]starting with South Korea and Japan." [04:04.27]On Wednesday, the United States said it plans [04:09.24]to deploy an advanced missile defense system to Guam, [04:13.97]an American territory in the Pacific Ocean. [04:17.81]The move is meant to serve as a warning, [04:21.60]but it will take several weeks for the system to arrive. [04:26.93]South Korea's Ministry of National Defense [04:30.51]has confirmed the movement of at least one missile by North Korea. [04:37.54]South Korea is also preparing for an attack. [04:42.17]It has deployed two warships with radar designed to monitor missiles.

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