韩国渴望一班开往欧洲的火车，但美国对朝鲜的制裁横亘其间 [美国媒体]

A North Korean train arrives in May 2007 atthe Jejin railway station in Goseong, northeast of Seoul near the demilitarizedzone separating North and South Korea.

（图解：2007年5月，一组朝鲜列车驶入高城郡的猪津火车站，靠近隔断朝鲜和韩国的非军事区）

GOSEONG, South Korea — Every week for thepast 12 years, a small team has headed past military checkpoints and barbedwire fences to the farthest northeast corner of South Korea, where they clean arailway station that never sees any trains.

8月4日，韩国 —— 过去12年来，每周都有一个小分队穿过军事检查站和带刺的铁丝网来到韩国最东北的角落，他们去那里打扫一个从来看不见火车的火车站。

Apart from a few never-used metaldetectors, the spotless station lies completely empty. The timetable is blank,the ticket offices are closed. Indeed, only one passenger train has everarrived at Jejin station: It came from North Korea in 2007.

除了一些从未使用过的金属探测器，这个一尘不染的火车站完全空着。时刻表是空的，售票处紧闭着，只有一列客运列车抵达过猪津站：它来自朝鲜，时间是2007年。



During their meeting in the peninsula’sdemilitarized zone in late April, South Korean President Moon Jae-in handed Kima USB stick containing detailed plans for an inter-Korean rail network. The twoKorean leaders agreed to work toward reconnecting their rail network, builtunder Imperial Japan at the turn of the 20th century, then severed during theKorean War in the 1950s.

在他们今年4月末半岛非军事区的会谈期间，韩国总统文在寅交给了金正恩一个USB记忆棒，里面包含了朝韩间铁路网的具体计划。两位朝鲜半岛领导人就重新连接他们的铁路网而努力达成一致，半岛铁路网是在20世纪初日本帝国治下建造的，后来在50年代的朝鲜战争期间切断了。



Since 2007, no train has used Jejin railwaystation in Goseong, South Korea.

（图解：从2007年开始，就没有火车用过高城郡的猪津站了）

But although Seoul wants to move full steamahead into the plan, with engineers already heading north of the border toinspect the tracks and plans being made to finally connect Jejin to otherstations in South Korea, the South’s diplomatic partners in Washington are notyet on board.

但是，虽然首尔方面想要全速推进该计划，工程师们已经去往北边的国界检查铁轨了，而且该计划最终要把猪津和韩国其他的火车站连接起来，韩国在华盛顿的外交伙伴却还没有表示支持。

“We cannot go further,” said Moon Chung-in, an influential adviser tothe South Korean president. “Why? Because of the sanctions regime.”

“我们无法继续进展下去”，对韩国总统有影响力的顾问文正仁说。“为什么呢？因为制裁制度。”

There is growing frustration that a slow paceon sanctions could dash renewed hopes for a connection.

让越来越多的人感到失望的是，缓慢的制裁进程会让重新燃起的连接希望破灭。

“It’s so stressful that the United States is so controlling,” saidSong Young-gil, a South Korean politician who recently inspected North Korea’srailways for the president’s office.

“美国如此热衷于控制，让人压力很大”，最近为总统办公室视察了朝鲜的铁路的韩国政治家宋永吉如是说。

No longer an 'island'

不再是一个“孤岛”

For many South Koreans, the prospect ofreconnecting the rail link to North Korea is one of the most evocative, evenromantic, aspects of the Korean detente. It represents not only a step towardeventual reunification of North and South but also a correction to the cruel20th-century history that made their nation an “island” without an open landborder.

对许多韩国人来说，重连与朝鲜铁路网的期望，是最富煽动性、甚至最浪漫的半岛缓和领域之一。它不仅代表着向南北韩的最终统一迈出了一步，也代表了一种对残酷的、使他们的国家变成一座“孤岛”的20世纪历史的一种修正。

Much attention has been focused on a westcoast line between Seoul and Pyongyang. In the DMZ not far from Seoul, anotherstation that opened in 2007 is now a tourist attraction where visitors can buy“tickets” and look at part of the Berlin Wall.

一条勾通首尔和平壤的西海岸线路受到了大量关注。在离首尔不远的非军事区，另一座在2007年开设的火车站现在是一个旅游胜地，在那里来访者可以买“票”来看一看柏林墙的一部分。

But while a west coast railroad wouldconnect political capitals, an east coast line through Jejin would be importantfor two key areas of Moon’s plans for cooperation with North Korea: trade andtourism.

但是当一条西海岸铁路勾通政治中心的同时，一条东海岸穿过猪津的铁路线，将对文在寅计划中与朝鲜合作的两个关键领域贸易和旅游意义重大。

Following existing tracks, this line wouldstart at Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city and one of the world’sbusiest seaports. Train service would run through Jejin and on into NorthKorea, passing through the Mount Kumgang tourist zone and then Wonsan, aweapons-industry hub converted into a beach resort. The service would continueto Hamhung, an industrial city and the second largest in North Korea.

这条线路将是对现存铁轨的延续，将会从韩国第二大城市也是世界上最繁忙的海港之一釜山出发。铁路服务将会经由猪津一路进入朝鲜，经过金刚山旅游区，然后是元山，那是一个由武器工业中心转变而来的海滩度假村。铁路服务会继续连接到一座工业城市也是朝鲜第二大城市咸兴市。

Eventually, it would reach Rason, anice-free seaport close to North Korean natural resources. From there, travelerswould go on to the Russian border, where there are links to the Russian seaportof Vladivostok and beyond. In theory, a train could continue to Europe onwhat’s been dubbed the “Iron Silk Railroad.”

最终，它将抵达罗先市，一座靠近朝鲜自然资源产区的不冻港。从那里，旅行者将能继续去往俄国边境，那里能连接到俄国海港符拉迪沃斯托克乃至更远的地方。理论上，一列火车可以继续在被称为“铁做的丝绸之路”上前往欧洲。

South Korean experts believe that thistrade and tourism could help open up North Korea politically. At the same time,there is hope that such a connection could boost South Korea’s strugglingeconomy and bring more business to the port of Busan.

韩国专家相信，这些贸易和旅游业能帮助朝鲜的政治开放。与此同时，存在着一种希望，即这种连接能增进韩国步履维艰的经济，并为釜山港带来更多的商机。

Na Hee-seung, the president of the KoreaRailroad Research Institute, said that using container ships to send goods fromBusan to Europe takes far too long for high-end goods. Freight rail would costmore but would take half the time, he said.

韩国铁道研究院校长南熙炫（音）表示，使用集装箱船从釜山向欧洲运送货物，对高端产品来说花的时间太长了。货运铁路成本更高，但只需要花费一半的时间，他说。

A railroad could also solidifyrelationships with neighbors, particularly Russia. Artyom Lukin, a politicalscientist at Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, said Russia haslong seen an inter-Korean connection to the Trans-Siberian Railway as a way ofextending its influence in the Far East. “Russia expects to rake in profits,”he said.

铁路也能强化和邻国的关系，尤其是和俄国。位于符拉迪沃斯托克的远东联邦大学政治学家阿尔乔姆·鲁金表示，长久以来，俄国把朝韩一道接入西伯利亚大铁路视为其扩大在远东影响力的一种方式。“俄国期望能大赚一把”，他说。

Off the tracks

一入歧途苦难为



Given the large financial cost involved,restarting plans to reconnect the rail service is risky. A complete renovationof North Korea’s railways could easily run into billions of dollars, with muchof the cost borne by South Korea.

鉴于牵涉的巨大财政耗费，铁路服务重连的重启计划是有风险的。对朝鲜铁路的全盘翻新随随便便就得注入几十亿美元，大部分的花销由韩国负担。

Recent visitors say that unlike SouthKorea’s world-class infrastructure, the North’s once-lauded rail network isdecrepit. Even near economic hubs such as Rason, only painfully slow trainssharing single tracks are available, and delays stretch from hours to days.

最近的来访者说，和韩国世界级的基础设施不同，朝鲜那曾被赞誉的铁路网已经破旧不堪。甚至在靠近经济中心比如罗先的地方，也只能坐到共用一条铁轨慢到挠心的列车，而且延误的范围从几小时到几天。

Ahn Byung-min, a South Korean railwayexpert who advises Moon’s government, said he had not seen any improvements inNorth Korea’s trains in more than 40 visits since 2000. “I’d say it’s gotworse,” he said. Some of his travel was on trains that reminded him of therunaway mine cart in the film “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” he said.

韩国的铁路专家安丙明（音）为文在寅政府提供顾问，他说在2000年起的40次访问中，看不到朝鲜的列车有任何改善。“我会说它变得更糟了”，他说。他有一部分旅行是走的火车，那让他想到电影《印第安纳琼斯》（即《夺宝奇兵2之魔域奇兵》）中失控的矿车。

South Koreans have sought ways to get theball rolling. On July 3, Song, the South Korean politician, wrote directly toTrump, pleading with him to lift U.S. sanctions on a project to connect theRussian city of Khasan to the port of Rason in North Korea. As the project wasalready exempt from U.N. sanctions, he wrote, Trump could remove U.S. sanctionsunilaterally as a gesture of goodwill to Pyongyang.

韩国已经在寻求打通关节的方法。在7月3日，韩国政治家宋先生直接写信给特朗普，恳求他能让制裁对把俄国城市喀山连接到朝鲜罗先港的计划高抬贵手。因为该计划已经被联合国的制裁豁免，他写道，特朗普可以单方面解除制裁，以作为释放给平壤方面的善意姿态。

If this happened, “Kim Jong Un would havesome leverage to persuade the hawkish military group” in North Korea thatdenuclearization was worth it, Song said. He has not received a response to hisletter, however.

如果这得以成真，“金正恩就会拥有一些劝服朝鲜军中鹰派山头的筹码”，即去核是值得的，宋说。然而，他还没有收到回信。

“If you’re on the one hand refusing to import North Korean coal andminerals until they make tangible steps on denuclearization, while at the sametime constructing railroads to import said goods, that’s an inherentlycontradictory policy,” said Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein, co-editor of NorthKorean Economy Watch.

“如果你一方面拒绝进口朝鲜的煤炭和矿物直到他们在去核上迈出切实的步伐，同时又去建造铁路以进口比如说货物，那这项政策从根本上就自相矛盾了”，《朝鲜经济观察》的联合主编本杰明·卡特泽夫·希尔伯斯坦说。

There are signs that North Korea is growingimpatient. Rodong Sinmun, the country’s most-read newspaper, published an articleTuesday that accused Seoul of taking “reckless measures to comply withsanctions.”

有迹象显示朝鲜正在变得不耐烦。这个国家阅读量最多的劳动报在周二刊载了一篇文章，指责首尔方面采取“遵守制裁的手段是不计后果的”。

“What South Korea can do and what North Korea actually wants aredifferent,” said Kim Byeong-uk, an economist who fled North Korea in 2002 andnow heads a think tank in Seoul. North Korea may ultimately decide instead toinvest in special economic zones that would allow it to earn hard currencywhile avoiding greater outside scrutiny, he said.

“韩国能做到的事，和朝鲜真正想要的是不同的”，经济学家金秉佑（音），也是2002年的脱北者，如今主持着首尔的一家智库。他说，也许朝鲜最终会决定转而投资经济特区，这样就能赚取硬通货，同时能避免更多外部审查。

But near Jejin railway station, thatdoesn’t matter — many feel that something long-delayed is finally arriving. KimJung-ja, the real estate agent, said that in 2007, the rundown local area wasbuzzing with excitement about the train line. Now, once again, she wasreceiving calls from property speculators looking to buy.

但在猪津站附近的地区，这不成为问题，许多人感觉延迟已久的东西终于到来了。房地产经纪人金荣甲说，在2007年时，衰退中的当地地区因为铁路线而兴奋雀跃。如今，她又一次收到了房地产投机者的电话，寻求买房。

Any problems would lie with the UnitedStates, which was being too tough on North Korea, Kim Jung-ja said. “We liveright here,” she said of her town’s proximity to the North. “We’re not afraidat all.”

任何问题都取决于美国，而它对朝鲜过于强硬，金荣甲说。“我们就住在这里”，她谈及她的城镇邻近北方。“我们一点也不怕。”


1、 Let the Koreans build their railroad.
​
让半岛人修他们自己的铁路吧。

2、It is time for SKand NK to do what makes sense for their mutual benefit-without reference towhat America thinks or wishes. America has been in a mentality rut about NK fordecades-time to rethink and get out of South Korea forever. There is no reasonto continue to maintain the handful of US troops as a show of force.

是时候让韩国和朝鲜去做能让他们双赢的事了，无须参考美国在想什么或想要什么。美国几十年来一直对朝鲜抱有成见，反思一下然而永远从韩国抽身吧。没有理由继续保持一小撮美国军队来作为一种武力展示。

So, the SK president should go ahead andstart the railroad using rolling stock from SK. Let Trump fume and foam. Pay noattention to this failing US president.

韩国总统应该继续，并动用韩国所有的机车来启动铁路。让特朗普冒烟冒泡去吧。不用搭理这个失败的美国总统。

3、Why should thekoreans be concerned with what Washington thinks. Washington is led by aninfantile, evil clown

为什么半岛人要去关心华盛顿在想什么。华盛顿被婴幼儿领导着，就是个邪恶的小丑。



7、Yet another reasonthat China loves The Donald. This link would bypass their Road/Belt scheme,encourage development that they can't control on the other side of theirnorther border, and strengthen South Korea and Japan.

这是中国喜欢特朗普的又一个原因。这条连线会绕开他们的一带一路计划，鼓励他们在北方边界的另一边无法控制的发展，还能强化韩国和日本。

The article doesn't mention if the link isRussian gage.

这篇文章没有提到这条线路是否采用俄国轨距。