朝鮮命令全國進入準戰時狀態 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.

朝鮮政府已命令軍隊和工人們進入“準戰時狀態”。在此之前，朝韓之間曾在週四發生相互炮擊的事件，這是近5年來首次發生類似事件。

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.

週四，韓國政府表示曾數十次向推斷出的朝鮮火箭彈發射點發射炮彈。此前，這枚火箭彈落在了朝韓邊境地帶。

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.

朝鮮政府的挑釁行爲似乎源自對韓國用擴音器播放宣傳廣播的憤怒。這些宣傳廣播是上週推出的。當時，韓國政府斷定，朝鮮軍方在朝韓之間的非軍事區，對韓國巡邏隊埋設了地雷，故意發動了襲擊。

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”.

週五，朝鮮官方媒體報道稱，朝鮮勞動黨中央軍事委員會(Korean Workers’ Party Central Military Commission)會議決定：“全黨、政府機關……司法機關、工廠、企業、合作社（應該）按照前線準戰時狀態的通告，（進入）準戰時狀態。”

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.

該報道確認了朝鮮方面週四下午發出的最後通牒，並表示已向前線派遣高級指揮官。該最後通牒稱，如果韓國不在48小時內停止宣傳廣播，朝鮮將採取軍事行動。

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.

韓國國防部表示，韓國軍隊將保持高度警戒的姿態，將對朝鮮方面的任何進一步挑釁堅決予以還擊。

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.

週四朝韓間的相互炮擊，是2010年12月以來首次發生炮擊事件。在2010年12月的事件中，朝鮮方面對韓國一個島嶼的炮擊曾導致4人喪生。而在此次炮擊事件三天前，美國與韓國在週一啓動了大規模年度軍事演習。朝鮮譴責這次軍演是在爲侵略朝鮮做準備。

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.

不過，雖然朝鮮政府發出了戰爭警告，但它也曾向韓國國家安保室(National Security Office)發過傳真，表示願意尋求改善與韓國的關係。由於朝鮮堅稱因受到美國政府威脅而必須擁有核武器，朝鮮政府與韓國政府之間、以及與美國及六方會談其他成員國之間的實質性磋商多年來已陷入停頓。

“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)分析師Go Myung-hyun表示：“朝鮮正在步步緊逼，以迫使韓國改變在朝鮮核計劃問題上的立場。然而，由於韓國並未退縮，此舉產生了反作用——導致雙方賭注越下越大。”