南北韓歷史性會談，哪幾篇英文報道值得一讀？

05-03

2018年4月27日註定將寫入各國歷史教科書——金家80後領導人首次跨過南北分界線來到韓方一側，而且還主動上演了手牽手的好戲碼，邀請比他年長近一倍的文總統踏足北方領土。在之前從口水仗到核試驗不斷升級的背景下，這第三次首腦會晤的歷史性不言而喻。

好了，本文並不把過度筆墨放在討論政治議題本身，而是推薦幾篇國際主流權威英文報道，它們各有側重地把這件事情講清楚了。

I. 針對這種舉世矚目的焦點話題，我首先搜索的當然是紐約時報

事實證明，NYT大概也是發揮了互聯網公司鼓勵團隊內部競爭的spirit,至少發布了有5，6篇同主題文章，也是各大主流媒體里產出最為集中的。

打開首頁最顯著位置就是這篇North and South Korea Set Bold Goals: A Final Peace

and No Nuclear Arms

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/world/asia/north-korea-south-kim-jong-un.html

坦白說我認為這篇過於平鋪直敘，這一點我竊以為可能出於兩個原因，第一是作者名看著像個韓國人（當然可能也是韓國裔美國人），語言不像純歐美人那麼華麗；第二議題敏感重大，還是要刻意保持相對的客觀中立。

之後我看了第二篇Korea Talks Begin as Kim Jong-un Crosses to South』s Side of DMZ

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/26/world/asia/korea-kim-moon-summit.html

這篇最大的特點跟第一篇正好相反，冗長而複雜，尤其是行文的結構和邏輯，穿插了過多的細節，除非是對朝鮮半島局勢發展進程了如指掌的人，不然再接受良好教育的讀者可能都會搞懵。我是看到這一段之後徹底想放棄了——我覺得對於正常的讀者而言有點distracting.

One mystery is what, if any, progress was made in a secret meeting in Pyongyang,

the North』s capital, this month between Mr. Kim and Mike Pompeo, the former

C.I.A. director who was confirmed Thursday as secretary of state. Mr. Trump

said Thursday that Mr. Pompeo was not scheduled to see Mr. Kim but had 「a great

meeting」 that lasted more than an hour.

就在連續幾篇都讓人有所失望的時候，終於發現一篇入我法眼的了，典型的NYT

style：視角獨特，語言華麗而精準，讓人有拍案叫絕的衝動。這篇名為With Cameras Rolling, Korea』s Leaders Put a Peaceful Spin on Propaganda的特稿，

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/world/asia/north-korea-south-border.html

從手拉手、密探、穿著打扮等細節入手來觀察整場會談。只要文字基礎夠好，看完文章的lead（開頭段落）你就秒懂我的點了，這才是typical NYT, 精妙得不像話：

A carefully choreographed diplomatic dance at the Korean border added a surprise

extra step on Friday, instantly turning a moment destined for the history books

into a viral meme for the social-media era.

II. 我第二篇要推薦的是路透的這篇Korean leaders aim for end of war, complete denuclearization after historic summit

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-southkorea/korean-leaders-aim-for-end-of-war-complete-denuclearisation-after-historic-summit-idUSKBN1HX2I6

這篇文章是典型的通訊社體，而且還是典型的路透體（而非彭博體，其區別我竊以為——路透用詞相當樸實啊彭博則異常fancy），最直觀的感受就是短句多，比如這句單獨成段的：

Trump welcomed the Korean talks.

敢問還能不能更質樸了！

本文通篇是用寫一篇財經/產經/商業報道的思路在報道這個政治事件，好處是讓哪怕政治小白的你也能迅速得到key messages 和significance，還習慣性地加上了股市反應（這一點是我這次推薦的幾篇里唯一包括這一元素的文章，並不是說必須有，但的確增加了稿子的區分度）。

又比如加入了對六方會談里各方（除了日本）外的最新官方表態，而很多其他報道都只談到了美國方面川普的推特信息，而少了中國以及尤其是少了俄羅斯。

當然，它的劣勢就在於讀完根本沒有快感略顯索然無味，好像沒法把這個「歷史性」的賣點給突出。

III. 第三篇說一下《華爾街日報》的North Korea』s Kim Jong Un and South』s Moon Hold Historic Summit

https://www.wsj.com/articles/north-south-korea-meeting-to-determine-their-future-ties-1524749462

其實這篇本來都快在芸芸眾生里被我放過去了，可是繼續往下讀才發現它是那種精巧型選手的代表。具體來說，和今天產出的大量此主題文章相比，本文採用的直接引語的比例是最少的——我並非不愛直接引語，而是超過3個段落以上的打斷直接引語其邊際效用會呈現斷崖式遞減。也就是說，哪怕金家80後講了再多驚天地泣鬼神的話，我最多就能記住最經典的一段罷了，其他話放了我都不想多看一眼，反而會稀釋掉其他可能更有乾貨信息量的內容。

本文在文章中選取的直接引語是：

「I』ve come here with the feeling that we are at the starting line of peace,

prosperity and a new era for North-South relations,」 Mr. Kim said.

而文章外的stand-alone qoute用的是更加口號式的：

『Let』s not go back, but rather look to the future』

此外，為什麼我說這篇文章lean呢？請看前三段：

Kim Jong Un became the first North Korean leader to set foot in the South since the Korean War when he stepped across the military demarcation line Friday and shook hands with Moon Jae-in, the South Korean president.

The outcome of their meeting is set to determine the future of relations on the

Korean Peninsula and lay the groundwork for Mr. Kim』s planned summit with President Donald Trump, which could come within

weeks.

In talks at the truce village of Panmunjom that include a dinner banquet, the two

Korean leaders were due to discuss improvements in relations, a possible peace agreement and, perhaps most critically, North Korea』s

nuclear arsenal.

發現什麼特點了？短短三段信息量特別集中：除了必要的五個W，還有今天討論的三大議題，以及未來的「金普會」，也就是把事實——焦點——近期影響很好地融合在一起，讓只有時間都三段話的讀者全面掌握核心信息。

還有一點，這篇文章還融入了一定的第三方分析比重——今天很多媒體（哪怕是NYT）都沒有花過多筆墨鋪這一部分。

比如：Experts say a permanent treaty would require support from the U.S. and China, which were parties to the armistice.Conservative critics of Mr. Moon』s outreach have

warned that a peace treaty could bolster Pyongyang』s demands for the withdrawal

of U.S. troops from the peninsula…For instance, Mr. Kim』s pledge not to conduct

more ICBM launches, a key issue for the U.S., led some conservative pundits to

wonder whether the North would continue launching shorter-range missiles.

總結一下：如果想看簡版事實和要害分析，這是一個很有性價比的選擇。

IV. 終於說到last but not least——也是今天我的最愛——沒想到花落《華盛頓郵報》的這篇：North and South Korea agree to work toward 『common goal』 of denuclearization

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/north-and-south-korea-agree-to-work-toward-common-goal-of-denuclearization/2018/04/27/7dcb03d6-4981-11e8-8082-105a446d19b8_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.654ff98189fb>

如果說前面的幾篇文章各有千秋，那這篇可謂集大成者。擺事實和講道理完美得穿插在一起，也就是我們所說的夾敘夾議，相得益彰互為補給，邏輯一點不混亂不高深（相比NYT對人的知識儲備要求之高，這篇簡直平易近人）。

在「講道理」的部分，它通過大量前期採訪第三方觀點試圖回答這麼幾個關鍵問題：

1，

為什麼這是「歷史性」的會晤？

Previous inter-Korean agreements have also pledged denuclearization. But this one marks a significant change because Kim has previously said he will expand his nuclear

arsenal, said Patrick McEachern, a fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington.

2，這次的驚喜到底在哪裡？

回答：

Even the most optimistic analysts were surprised at the scope of the agreement,

noting in particular that Kim has now signed a document that includes the word

「denuclearization.」

「You can』t ask for more than that,」 said John Delury, a professor of international

relations at Yonsei University in Seoul and a keen proponent of diplomatic

engagement.

「Yes, there are still questions about how to guarantee North Korea』s security on the path the denuclearization. But I』m surprised they would go this far at this

early stage, that Kim Jong Un didn』t save this for his meeting with Trump,」

Delury added.

3，對於各相關方而言，這事就沒有隱患？

回答：

But the phrase 「through complete denuclearization」 will ring alarm bells in

Washington because it implied that nuclear weapons will not be allowed in South

Korea either.

最後的最後我必須提一句，這篇文章里暗藏著若干我欣賞的細節中，然而最吸引我的是對板門店宣言里關於那個和平機制的韓文原版和英文翻譯的用詞對比，好像沒看到其他媒體抓住這個摳細節的，卻是很關鍵的信息點：

「South and North Korea will actively cooperate to establish a permanent and solid

peace regime on the Korean Peninsula,」 the joint statement said in English, as

officially translated by the South』s presidential Blue House.

The Korean language version used the words 「peace treaty」 — an important

distinction. 「Treaty」 generally refers to a piece of paper while 「regime」 means

a system for peace, such as stopping military activities.

好了綜上所述，如果你對國際事務感興趣，那麼今天這個話題必須關注。如果時間不夠，不妨看我推薦的以上四篇就夠了；如果連讀四篇的時間都沒有，那麼精讀最後一篇《華盛頓郵報》的就夠了。

寫完的一瞬間我有一點恍惚，就這麼見證了歷史。不過，半島若要實現真正的和平，依然還是任重而道遠吧！

ps: 以上文章均需要climb the wall，這個是基本功。