火箭成功发射凸显朝鲜技术水平提升

North Korea appears to have turned a corner in its goal of achieving mastery of ballistic missiles, U.S. officials and weapons experts said following its successful rocket launch early Wednesday, adding to pressure on the Obama administration to contain Pyongyang's arsenal.

朝鲜周三上午成功发射一枚火箭之后，美国的官员和武器专家们说，朝鲜在实现熟练掌握弹道导弹技术这一目标方面已经突破了技术瓶颈，这增加了奥巴马政府遏制朝鲜武器装备能力的压力。

A particular concern for U.S. officials is that Iran, which also is developing a nuclear program and long-range missiles, could take heart from its Asian ally's success and accelerate what the West suspects is a goal of developing a warhead. Pyongyang and Tehran have closely cooperated in developing missile systems for more than two decades, according to U.S. and Asian officials.

美国官员尤为担心的是，伊朗可能会从其亚洲盟友朝鲜的成功中受到鼓舞，加速在西方看来伊朗正在进行的核弹头开发计划。伊朗同样在开发核武器和远程导弹。据美国和亚洲国家的一些官员说，朝鲜和伊朗20多年来一直在开发导弹系统方面进行着密切合作。

'Nothing that we're doing now in terms of sanctions or diplomacy or anything has stopped [Pyongyang],' said Victor Cha, who served as a top adviser on North Korea to President George W. Bush. 'Counterproliferation now becomes much more important.'

曾担任美国前总统小布什(George W. Bush)的朝鲜问题高级顾问的Victor Cha说，我们目前采取的制裁和外交手段都未能阻止朝鲜，防止武器扩散的重要性现在大大加强了。

The United Nations Security Council condemned the North's launch of a three-stage rocket that Pyongyang claimed had placed a weather satellite into orbit earlier Wednesday. The launch appeared to be North Korea's first breakthrough following four largely unsuccessful tries since 1998.

联合国安理会谴责了朝鲜发射三级火箭的行为。朝鲜称，这枚火箭在周三早些时候把一颗气象卫星送入了轨道。这次的火箭发射似乎是朝鲜1998年以来四次大体上不成功的尝试之后的一个突破。

U.S. officials said they believed the launch was cover for North Korea to further develop long-range missiles that could eventually carry nuclear warheads capable of threatening Washington's allies in Asia, and, potentially, the U.S. West Coast. Japanese authorities estimated the rocket's range at about 3,700 miles.

美国官员说，他们认为这次火箭发射是朝鲜进一步开发远程导弹的掩护，这些远程导弹最终可能会携带核弹头，从而威胁到美国在亚洲的盟友，甚至美国西海岸。日本政府估计，这枚火箭的射程大约为37,00英里。

Pyongyang has conducted two nuclear tests over the past decade, and U.S. intelligence agencies estimate it has produced enough fissile material for as many as a dozen atomic bombs.

过去10年，朝鲜进行过两次核试验，美国情报机构估计，朝鲜已经生产出足够制造12颗原子弹的的核裂变材料。

Officials are still assessing whether the object carried by the rocket achieved a stable orbit. Some U.S. officials described the satellite as slipping out of North Korea's control. But making a final determination will take days, according to an official at the U.S. Strategic Command, which is tracking the object. Should Pyongyang indeed lose control at times it could still re-establish it, the official said.

美国的官员们仍在评估朝鲜这枚火箭携带的物体是否进入了稳定的轨道。一些美国官员认为，这颗卫星脱离了朝鲜的控制。但是，追踪这颗卫星的美国战略司令部(Strategic Command)的一名官员说，还需要几天时间才能得出最后结论。这名官员说，即使朝鲜有时会暂时失去对这颗卫星的控制，朝鲜仍然有可能重新建立对卫星的控制。

'I am not prepared to agree to the characterization of it being a stunning success by any means,' said a U.S. official. 'We are still assessing it, and I am not sure that [success] is where we are going to end up.'

一名美国官员说，无论从哪个角度讲，我都不打算同意把这次火箭发射形容为一次巨大的成功；我们仍然在进行评估，我现在无法确定最终结论一定会认为朝鲜的火箭发射是成功的。

Regardless of the satellite's fate, the missile technology that placed it into orbit demonstrates a new level of sophistication.

无论这颗卫星的命运如何，把这颗卫星送入轨道的导弹技术的复杂程度已经上升到了一个新的水平。

The North Korean launch showed that Pyongyang has been able to correct earlier problems with multistage rockets, said Henry 'Trey' Obering III, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and the former head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. 'They are a major step closer to having an ability to threaten the continental United States.'

美国空军退役中将、美国导弹防御署(Missile Defense Agency)前负责人奥柏林(Henry "Trey" Obering III)说，朝鲜此次成功发射火箭说明平壤方面已经能够纠正多级火箭此前出现的种种问题。他们朝著有能力威胁美国本土迈出了重要一步。

The launch violated U.N. Security Council resolutions banning North Korean missile activity. U.S. and European officials said Wednesday that they would seek to use a new Security Council resolution to enact tougher financial sanctions on North Korean leaders and companies. They also said they would work to develop ways to more intrusively contain the spread of sophisticated weapons in and out of the secluded state.

朝鲜此次发射火箭违反了联合国安理会有关禁止朝鲜开展导弹研制活动的决议。美国和欧洲官员周三表示，他们将争取利用联合国安理会的一项新决议对朝鲜领导人和有关公司实施更加严厉的经济制裁。他们还说将合作开发一系列方法，以更加深入地防止尖端武器在朝鲜国内外的扩散。

The Security Council 'must now work in a concerted fashion to send North Korea a clear message that its violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions have consequences,' said the Obama administration's ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice.

美国常驻联合国代表赖斯(Susan Rice)说，安理会现在必须采取一致行动向朝鲜传达一个明确信号，即违反联合国安理会决议必须承担后果。

Still, critics of successive U.S. administrations said international sanctions and diplomacy have done little to prevent North Korea from steadily developing a nuclear weapons arsenal over the past three decades.

不过，历届美国政府的批评者说，国际制裁和外交手段几乎未能阻止朝鲜在过去30年中稳步发展核武器。

They said the White House should move more aggressively to establish a missile-defense system in Asia to defend allies such as Japan and South Korea.

这些批评者说，白宫应该更积极地在亚洲建立导弹防御系统，以保护日本和韩国等盟国。

Some also said that the U.S. must be prepared to heighten covert actions against Pyongyang, including sabotage and air and maritime interdictions, to prevent it from mastering the technologies needed to place a nuclear warhead on a long-range missile.

一些批评者还说，美国必须准备好加强针对平壤的秘密行动，这包括暗中破坏以及从海空进行阻截，以防止朝鲜掌握将核弹头安装到远程导弹上所需的技术。

Current and former U.S. officials are worried that the North's advances could fuel a further arms race in Northeast Asia. Japan is already seen as having a latent nuclear-weapons capability. South Korea is developing long-range missiles and has a vast civilian nuclear-power program that could be converted to military use.

多位现任和前任美国官员担心，朝鲜此举可能进一步助推东北亚地区的军备竞赛。日本已经被视为一个可能拥有核武器的国家。韩国正在研发远程导弹技术，并有可以转作军用的大规模民用核电项目。

These officials are also concerned that North Korea would be willing to export its nuclear-weapons technologies to networks of buyers in the Middle East and Asia.

这些官员还担心，朝鲜可能愿意向中东和亚洲的买家出口其核武器技术。

Pyongyang has regularly exported missile technologies to Iran, Syria and Myanmar, according to U.S. and Asian officials. U.N. nuclear inspectors believe the North secretly built a nuclear reactor in eastern Syria that was destroyed by Israeli jets in 2007.

据美国和亚洲官员介绍，平壤定期向伊朗、叙利亚和缅甸出口导弹技术。联合国核检查人员认为，朝鲜曾在叙利亚东部秘密建造了一座核反应堆，这座反应堆在2007年被以色列战机摧毁。

U.S. and allied intelligence services have intercepted shipments of North Korean missile components going into all three countries in recent months, according to U.S. and Asian diplomats. 'North Korea has proven that it's willing to sell anything to anyone. They need the hard currency,' said David Asher, who has tracked Pyongyang's arms trade both at the State Department and the Center for New American Security, a Washington think tank.

美国和亚洲外交官说，最近几个月美国及其盟国的情报部门截获了运往上述三个国家的朝鲜导弹部件。在美国国务院和华盛顿智库新美国安全中心(Center for New American Security)任职期间追踪平壤武器贸易的埃舍尔(David Asher)说，朝鲜已经证明自己愿意向任何国家出售任何东西。他们需要硬通货。

U.S. officials particularly worry that China could impede any efforts at the U.N. to choke off North Korea's weapons development.

美国官员尤为担心的是，对于联合国试图阻止朝鲜发展武器的任何努力，中国都有可能从中加以阻挠。

Beijing has supported international diplomacy focused on containing North Korea's nuclear program, called the six-party talks. China has backed some previous U.N. resolutions sanctioning North Korean military officers and arms companies.

北京曾支持旨在遏制朝鲜核计划的国际外交行动，即六方会谈；也曾支持之前一些制裁朝鲜军官和武器公司的联合国决议。

But China continues to provide significant financial assistance to Pyongyang and its new leader, Kim Jong Eun. And North Korea companies have used China as a base through which to procure and sell arms equipment, according to U.S. and Asian officials.

但中国仍在给朝鲜及其新领导人金正恩(Kim Jong Eun)提供大量的财务援助。据美国和亚洲官员说，朝鲜企业曾利用中国作为基地来购销武器装备。

This week's launch, said Rep. Mike Rogers (R., Mich.), chairman of the House intelligence committee, should be a 'wake-up call' to change U.S. policy toward North Korea. North Korea has already shared its nuclear and missile technology, and will spread long-range missile expertise as well, he said. 'That's what makes this so dangerous,' Mr. Rogers said. He said the Obama administration should press China to head off a nuclearized Korean peninsula.

美国众议院情报委员会主席罗杰斯(Mike Rogers，密歇根州共和党人)说，美国应当因为朝鲜这次发射而警醒过来，改变对朝政策。他说，朝鲜已经向他国分享过核技术和导弹技术，同样也会扩散远程导弹方面的经验，所以这次发射十分危险。罗杰斯说，奥巴马政府应当敦促中国防止朝鲜半岛有核化。

The rocket launch, which occurred Tuesday night U.S. time, was monitored by American and Japanese military officials.

朝鲜发射火箭是在美国时间的周二夜间。此次发射受到美国和日本军方官员的密切监控。

U.S. officials said the Pentagon didn't attempt to intercept the rocket with missile-defense systems because it was never assessed to be a direct threat.

美国官员表示，五角大楼不想利用导弹防御系统拦截火箭，因为他们从来没有将这枚火箭评估为一种直接威胁。

The Japanese also have missile-interception capabilities, officials said, but they decided the rocket didn't pose a direct threat to Japan, either.

据官方说，日本也具有导弹拦截能力，但他们也认为火箭没有对日本构成直接威胁。

If the rocket headed toward Hawaii, it could have been hit by the ground-based U.S. interceptors in Alaska, U.S. officials said. Had the missile threatened Japan or another target in Asia, the U.S. could have tried to intercept it with its Aegis-ship based missiles.

美国官员说，如果火箭飞往夏威夷，那么它可能已被美国在阿拉斯加的陆基拦截导弹击落。要是导弹威胁到日本或亚洲另外某个目标，美国可能已经动用“宙斯盾(Aegis)军舰搭载的导弹加以拦截。

Gen. Obering said the U.S. doesn't have the ability, except under limited circumstances, to intercept a missile in its 'boost' phase, while it is heading upward.

奥柏林说，除了在一些有限的情况下之外，美国没有能力在导弹的“推进阶段、也就是上升过程中将其拦截。

'The system is designed as a military system…to defend against an attack,' Gen. Obering said. 'So if a missile does not threaten a territory, the system does not want to waste an interceptor.'

奥柏林说，导弹防御系统是作为一个军用系统设计的，目的是防范攻击，所以如果导弹没有威胁到某块领土，那么这个系统就不想浪费掉一枚拦截导弹。

North Korea's state media first announced the flight about two hours after it occurred and, in later dispatches, called it 'a great turn in developing the country's science, technology and economy by fully exercising the independent right to use space for peaceful purposes.'

在火箭发射过后约两小时，朝鲜国家媒体首次宣布了这一消息。在随后的报道中朝鲜媒体说：此次火箭发射成功对正当行使自主的和平利用宇宙权利来发展国家科技和经济具有划时代意义。

The apparent success of the launch is expected to help new leader Kim Jong Eun, just as North Korea is about to commemorate the first anniversary of the Dec. 17 death of his father, Kim Jong Il. The younger Mr. Kim is perceived by outsiders to be facing some internal dissension, particularly from military leaders who have lost some of their power in the year he has been in charge.

这次疑似成功的发射将会对朝鲜领导人金正恩有所帮助，目前，朝鲜正准备在12月17日纪念金正恩的父亲金正日去世一周年。外界认为金正恩一直面临内部不和的困扰，特别是来自军方领导人的不同意见，这些人在金正恩掌权的一年时间失去了部分权力。

'At a time when great yearnings and reverence for Kim Jong Il pervade the whole country, its scientists and technicians brilliantly carried out his behests to launch a scientific and technological satellite in 2012, the year marking the 100th birth anniversary of President Kim Il Sung,' one North Korean state media dispatch said.

朝鲜国有媒体的一篇报道说，在举国沉浸在对金正日的缅怀和崇敬之时，朝鲜的科学家和技术人员出色地完成了金正日的指示，在2012年朝鲜领袖金日成诞辰100周年发射了一颗科技卫星。