朝鮮承認一艘軍艦在10月份沉沒

North Korea has quietly revealed the sinking of a warship in October, apparently with significant loss of life, in an unusual admission of failure by the authoritarian state.

朝鮮悄悄承認一艘軍艦在10月份沉沒，顯然導致多人喪生。此舉是這個威權政府不尋常的一次承認失敗。

The accident was revealed in a state media report of a visit by supreme leader Kim Jong Un to a navy cemetery containing the bodies of "commanding officers and sailors of submarine chaser No 233 [who] fell while performing their combat duties in mid-October last".

這一事故是在官方媒體對最高領導人金正恩(Kim Jong Un)參謁一個人民軍海軍墓地的報道中透露的。報道稱，這個墓地埋葬着“今年10月中旬在執行戰鬥任務時壯烈犧牲的233號獵潛艦指揮官和水兵”。

A photograph issued by the KCNA state news agency showed Mr Kim crouching by the graves of two young sailors, whose date of death was shown as October 13.

朝中社(KCNA)發佈的一張照片顯示，金正恩蹲在兩個年輕水兵的墓前，墓碑上雕刻的死亡日期爲10月13日。

“Cases of troops dying in the middle of training have happened before,” said Cheong Seong-chang, a researcher at the Sejong Institute. "But the fact they admit the accident in public shows a big difference in their attitude. In the past, they tried to hide such accidents.”

“部隊在演習中喪生的事以前也發生過，”韓國世宗研究院(Sejong Institute)研究員鄭相昌(Cheong Seong-Chang)表示。“但他們現在公開承認這起事故，這個事實顯示他們的態度發生重大變化。以往，他們傾向於掩蓋此類事故。”

Last April, North Korean state television announced the failure of an attempted satellite launch – in contrast with its behaviour in 1998 and 2009, when it claimed successful launches despite foreign consensus that the attempts had failed.

去年4月，朝鮮官方電視臺宣佈發射衛星的嘗試失敗——這與其在1998年和2009年的表現形成鮮明對比，那時官方媒體宣稱發射成功，而國外的共識是那些嘗試都失敗了。

The report of the cemetery visit stressed the grief of Mr Kim, who said he had hardly been able to sleep since the death of his “his comrades-in-arms”.

有關參謁墓地的報道強調了金正恩的悲痛心情。他表示，自從他的這些“戰友”死亡以來，他心疼得睡不着覺。

This gesture appeared to be part of a drive by the young leader to shore up his support in the armed forces, said Daniel Pinkston at the International Crisis Group, noting that news of the accident would probably have spread through the military ranks by word of mouth.

國際危機集團(International Crisis Group)的丹尼爾•平克斯頓(Daniel Pinkston)表示，這個姿態似乎是這名年輕領導人籠絡軍隊人心的努力的一部分。他指出，即便不公佈消息，全軍上下也很可能通過口口相傳瞭解到這起事故。

Since taking power on the death of his father in December 2011, Mr Kim has carried out the most extensive purge of the senior ranks of the North Korean military for several decades, as he has replaced a group of elderly generals who rose to prominence under his father. Last month, state media confirmed the appointment of a fourth army chief in 15 months.

自2011年12月從去世的父親手裏接過大權以來，金正恩對朝鮮軍方高層進行了數十年來最大範圍的清洗，搞掉了一批在他父親主政期間提拔上來的老年將領。上月，官方媒體證實朝鮮在15個月裏第四次更換人民軍總參謀長。

In recent talks with former US officials, North Korean representatives have expressed their openness to a resumption of the stalled “six-party talks” on the country's nuclear programme, while insisting that there can be no preconditions for negotiations.

在近期與美國前任官員商談期間，朝鮮代表表示，該國願意考慮重啓陷於停滯的有關朝鮮核武計劃的“六方會談”，但堅持要求談判不可預設條件。

Participants in the discussions warn that this is at odds with US demands for North Korea to take steps towards abandoning its nuclear weapons efforts before talks can begin.

參與商談的美方人員警告，這與美方的要求不符。美國要求，在開始談判之前，朝鮮必須先拿出一些有意放棄核武的行動。

However, discussion continues among the other members of the six-party talks. South Korean, Japanese and US officials are set to hold talks on the North Korean nuclear programme in Washington this week, and the subject will also be high on the agenda during a visit by Russian president Vladimir Putin to Seoul next week.

不過，六方會談的其他成員國仍在進行磋商。韓國、日本和美國官員本週將在華盛頓就朝鮮核武計劃舉行商討，同時俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾•普京(Vladimir Putin)下週訪問首爾期間，這件事也將列於議程重要地位。