朝鲜命令全国进入准战时状态 North Korea orders troops on to high alert

Pyongyang has ordered troops and workers to assume a “quasi-war footing” after Thursday’s exchange of artillery fire between North and South Korea, the first for nearly five years.

朝鲜政府已命令军队和工人们进入“准战时状态”。在此之前，朝韩之间曾在周四发生相互炮击的事件，这是近5年来首次发生类似事件。

Seoul said on Thursday it had fired dozens of artillery rounds at the presumed source of a North Korean rocket that had landed in a border area.

周四，韩国政府表示曾数十次向推断出的朝鲜火箭弹发射点发射炮弹。此前，这枚火箭弹落在了朝韩边境地带。

The provocation by Pyongyang appears to have been prompted by anger at South Korean loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts. These were launched last week after Seoul concluded that North Korean forces had laid landmines in a deliberate attack on its patrols of the demilitarised zone that divides the states.

朝鲜政府的挑衅行为似乎源自对韩国用扩音器播放宣传广播的愤怒。这些宣传广播是上周推出的。当时，韩国政府断定，朝鲜军方在朝韩之间的非军事区，对韩国巡逻队埋设了地雷，故意发动了袭击。

A state media report on Friday said a meeting of the Korean Workers’ Party Central Military Commission had ruled that “the party, government bodies... bodies, plants, enterprises, and co-operative farms [should adopt] a quasi-war footing in accordance with the declaration of quasi-war footing in the front line”.

周五，朝鲜官方媒体报道称，朝鲜劳动党中央军事委员会(Korean Workers’ Party Central Military Commission)会议决定：“全党、政府机关……司法机关、工厂、企业、合作社（应该）按照前线准战时状态的通告，（进入）准战时状态。”

It confirmed the issuance on Thursday afternoon of an ultimatum warning of military action if South Korea did not halt the propaganda within 48 hours, and said senior commanders had been sent to the front line.

该报道确认了朝鲜方面周四下午发出的最后通牒，并表示已向前线派遣高级指挥官。该最后通牒称，如果韩国不在48小时内停止宣传广播，朝鲜将采取军事行动。

South Korea’s defence ministry said its forces would maintain a position of high alert and would respond sternly to any further provocations by North Korea.

韩国国防部表示，韩国军队将保持高度警戒的姿态，将对朝鲜方面的任何进一步挑衅坚决予以还击。

Thursday’s inter-Korean exchange of artillery fire was the first since December 2010, when North Korean shelling of a South Korean island killed four people. It came three days after Monday’s launch of a large-scale annual US-South Korean military exercise, which Pyongyang has condemned as preparation for an invasion.

周四朝韩间的相互炮击，是2010年12月以来首次发生炮击事件。在2010年12月的事件中，朝鲜方面对韩国一个岛屿的炮击曾导致4人丧生。而在此次炮击事件三天前，美国与韩国在周一启动了大规模年度军事演习。朝鲜谴责这次军演是在为侵略朝鲜做准备。

Yet even as it warned of war, Pyongyang sent a fax to the head of South Korea’s national security office saying it was willing to pursue improved relations. Substantive negotiations between Pyongyang and Seoul, as well as with the US and other members of the suspended six-party talks, have been stalled for several years, with North Korea insistent it requires nuclear weapons since it is threatened by Washington’s.

不过，虽然朝鲜政府发出了战争警告，但它也曾向韩国国家安保室(National Security Office)发过传真，表示愿意寻求改善与韩国的关系。由于朝鲜坚称因受到美国政府威胁而必须拥有核武器，朝鲜政府与韩国政府之间、以及与美国及六方会谈其他成员国之间的实质性磋商多年来已陷入停顿。

“North Korea is escalating to make South Korea back down from its position on the nuclear programme,” said Go Myung-hyun, an analyst at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. “But it’s backfired because South Korea is not backing down — it’s upping the ante.”

峨山政策研究院(Asan Institute for Policy Studies)分析师Go Myung-hyun表示：“朝鲜正在步步紧逼，以迫使韩国改变在朝鲜核计划问题上的立场。然而，由于韩国并未退缩，此举产生了反作用——导致双方赌注越下越大。”