口译时事：老挝遣返一批朝鲜难民

　　Laos handed over a group of North Korean refugees to Pyongyang this week and rejected criticism it had endangered their lives, saying South Korea was informed of the detentions but made no attempt to help, an assertion a South Korean official disputed.

　　老挝本周遣返了一批朝鲜难民，并反驳了外界对于其令这些难民身陷险境的指责。老挝说，韩国也获悉了这些难民被扣留的消息，但是没有尝试提供帮助，一名韩国官员否认这一说法。

　　News of the repatriation of the North Koreans between the ages of 15 and 23 has garnered national attention in South Korea. It's thought to be the first time Laos─a common transit point for North Koreans fleeing their homeland via China─has handed over defectors to agents from the North.

　　这批朝鲜难民的年龄在15到23岁之间，他们被遣返的消息在韩国引发了关注。外界认为这是老挝第一次将脱北者交给朝鲜特工。老挝是脱北者经由中国逃离朝鲜之后常去的中转站。

　　In previous instances, escapees caught inside Laos were moved to a third country, often Thailand, to be sent to Seoul under an unofficial agreement between Laos and South Korea, a former South Korean diplomat to Laos said.

　　一名前韩国驻老挝外交官说，此前，在老挝境内被逮捕的脱北者曾经有几次被转送到第三个国家（通常是泰国），然后根据老挝和韩国的非正式协议被送到首尔。

　　Human-rights activists working for North Korean defectors say the swift repatriation is unusual, suggesting North Korea has been more assertive in recovering defectors since the dictator Kim Jong Un came to power in late 2011.

　　为脱北者维权的人权活动人士说，这么迅速的遣返不同寻常，并暗示说，自从朝鲜独裁者金正恩(Kim Jong Un)在2011年年末执掌政权以来，朝鲜寻回脱北者的态度更加坚定。

　　Officials from the Southeast Asian nation, where the North Koreans were detained on May 10, said both the North Korean and South Korean embassies in the capital Vientiane were informed but only the North moved to take the group. Laotian officials said the refugees didn't ask to be sent to South Korea.

　　这些脱北者于5月10日在老挝被扣押。这个东南亚国家的官员说，朝鲜和韩国驻老挝首都万象的大使馆都得到了通知，但是只有朝鲜要求带走这批朝鲜人。老挝官员说，难民们没有要求被送往韩国。

　　South Korea has declined to comment officially on the case, but a senior official challenged the Laotian account on Thursday. 'South Korea made constant requests to visit the North Korean refugees, to have them released to us and to protect them from forced extradition,' said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

　　韩国官方拒绝对此事发表评论，但是一名高级官员周四反驳了老挝的说法。这名要求匿名的官员说，韩国多次要求探望朝鲜难民，将他们释放并交予韩国，防止他们被强制引渡。

　　The North Korean defectors are assumed to have been repatriated earlier this week via China, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry, and will likely face interrogation. Punishment for defectors that have had contact with South Koreans and religious groups is widely considered to be more severe, with punishments including hard labor, prison camp and even execution, according to scholars and human-rights activists.

　　韩国外交部说，这些脱北者据信已经于本周早些时候经由中国回到朝鲜，他们将可能面临审问。学者和人权活动人士说，外界普遍认为，接触韩国人和宗教组织的脱北者受到的惩罚更加严重，包括苦役、监狱集中营，甚至死刑。

　　The refugees were arrested close to the Chinese border together with South Korean guides. They were moved to a detention center in Vientiane days later, Laotian Foreign Ministry officials said.

　　这些难民是在中国边境附近被逮捕的，当时他们正跟着一些韩国向导。老挝外交部的官员们说，几天后，他们被转移到万象的一个拘留中心。

　　Because the nine North Koreans and the two South Koreans crossed the Sino-Laotian border without passing an immigration checkpoint, authorities treated them as illegal immigrants, Laotian officials said. Both North and South Korean embassies were notified of the refugees once their identities were revealed, and at the North's request, the nine were released into its custody, according to the ministry's account.

　　老挝官员说，因为这九名朝鲜人和两名韩国人在没有通过出入境检查站的情况下越过了中老边境，有关部门将其视作非法移民。难民身份一经曝光后朝鲜和韩国大使馆就得到有关这些难民的通知。据老挝外交部描述，应朝鲜的要求，九名朝鲜人被转移至朝鲜的监管下。

　　Laotian Foreign Ministry officials said that contrary to earlier South Korean reports based on the guides' testimony, the North Korean refugees didn't ask to be sent to the South, and the South Korean Embassy didn't file an official request to visit them. 'We expected them to do that [request a visit],' said Khantivong Somlith, an official at the Laotian Embassy in Seoul.

　　老挝外交部官员说，和此前韩国方面根据向导的证词进行的报道相左，朝鲜难民没有要求被送往韩国，韩国使馆也没有提交正式申请以探访这些难民。位于首尔的老挝大使馆的一位官员宋历(Khantivong Somlith)说，我们希望韩国方面提出探访申请。

　　South Korea's first attempt to discuss the issue with Laos came only on Wednesday when the Vientiane-based ambassador visited the Laotian vice foreign minister─after the nine refugees were escorted out of the country by North Korean agents, the Laotian officials said.

　　老挝官员说，韩国方面直到本周三才首次尝试与老挝讨论这一问题。当时韩国驻万象大使会见了老挝外交部副部长。此前九名朝鲜难民已经被朝鲜特工押解出老挝。

　　The South Korean guides, a pastor and his wife, accused Laos and North Korea of cutting a deal for the escapees' repatriation. Speaking to national media, they added that South Korea didn't intervene quickly or forcefully enough. The guides, who are back in South Korea, couldn't be reached to comment.

　　两位韩国向导（一位牧师和他的妻子）指责老挝和朝鲜私下达成遣返上述朝鲜难民的协议。在接受韩国媒体采访时两人说，韩国政府没有迅速有力介入此事。记者无法联系已经回到韩国的这两位向导置评。

　　South Korean media and activists have questioned whether this case points to Pyongyang's influence eclipsing Seoul's in Vientiane, despite the South being a top aid donor to Laos. North Korea and Laos have maintained relatively close relations as allies since the 1970s, but recently the level of senior-level contact has increased, according to the South Korean government official.

　　韩国媒体和活动人士纷纷质疑这一事件是否表明平壤对老挝的影响力已经超过首尔，虽然首尔仍然向老挝提供大量援助。自上世纪70年代以来，朝鲜和老挝就保持比较密切的同盟关系，但据韩国政府官员说，近来老挝和朝鲜高层接触愈发频繁。

　　The last known senior-level contact between the North and the Southeast Asian country was a week ago, when North Korea's head of parliament met with Soukanh Mahalath, Vientiane mayor and senior ruling party member, in Pyongyang, North Korean state media reported.

　　朝鲜和老挝最近一次高层接触在一周前。据朝鲜官方媒体报道，当时朝鲜最高人民会议负责人同万象市长和老挝执政党高级别成员马哈拉特(Soukanh Mahalath)在平壤会面。

　　More than 25,000 North Koreans have fled their impoverished country and live in South Korea, which gives such arrivals South Korean nationality. Their route of choice has been via China and Southeast Asia, but since Mr. Kim took power, Pyongyang has tightened its borders to prevent defections.

　　超过25,000名朝鲜人逃离贫困的朝鲜到韩国生活，韩国允许这些脱北者入籍。这些人脱北的路径是取道中国和东南亚国家。但自金正恩上台以来，平壤已经加强边境管理，以防止民众脱北。

　　The number of North Koreans escaping to the South tumbled 44% in 2012 from a year earlier, South Korean government figures show. Pyongyang has also increased punishment for repatriated defectors and stepped up efforts to reduce corruption among border guards that accept bribes to let defectors pass, according to activists and recent defectors.

　　韩国政府数据显示，逃到韩国的朝鲜人数量在2012年同比下降44%。据活动人士和最近脱北的朝鲜人透露，平壤还加大了对被遣返的脱北者的惩罚力度，并加大努力减少边境守卫受贿的现象。朝鲜边境守卫收受贿赂后会允许叛逃者出境。

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