CNN News:韩称朝鲜高级军官叛逃韩国 朝鲜致力于核武器开发

First up, a high level defection from a communist nation. This is when someone deserts his or her own country — in this case North Korea -- to live somewhere else -- in this case, South Korea.
Tens of thousands of North Koreans have done this before. Their lives back home are strictly controlled by the North Korean government. There's widespread poverty and hunger. But the defection announced yesterday could be of the highest ranking North Korean military official ever to do it. He was a senior intelligence officer in the communist country.
South Korean officials say he worked for a bureau responsible for spying on South Korea. Officials believe he could give a lot of valuable information on the secretive regime of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. His move to the South came a week after 13 North Korean restaurant workers defected to South Korea.
With all this going on, North Korea has been moving ahead with its controversial nuclear program.
第一条新闻，一个社会主义国家的一名官员叛逃。这是指一个人抛弃了他或她的祖国，去其他地方生活，今天的新闻讲的是一名朝鲜人叛逃至韩国。
此前有上万名朝鲜人这样做过。朝鲜人的生活由朝鲜政府严格控制。朝鲜存在普遍的贫穷和饥饿现象。但是昨天公布的那个人可能是有史以来叛逃至韩国的最高级别朝鲜军官。他曾是社会主义国家朝鲜的高级情报官员。
韩国官员表示，他曾在负责侦察韩国情报的机构工作。官员认为，他可以提供大量有关朝鲜独裁者金正恩所领导的秘密政权的有价值情报。在他叛逃至韩国的一周以前，13名朝鲜餐厅员工集体脱北逃至韩国。
虽然发生了这些事情，但是朝鲜仍在继续推进其备受争议的核计划。

JIM SCIUTTO, cnn CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: This is the North Korean mid-range missile, says South Korea, now capable of carrying a nuclear weapon. South Korean intelligence concluding that Pyongyang's Nodong ballistic missile can deliver a one-ton warhead as far as 1,200 miles, putting South Korea, Japan, and U.S. military bases in Asia within reach of a nuclear strike.
North Korea's dictator Kim Jong-un is already celebrating, posing for pictures near what North Korea claims to be the warhead.
U.S. intelligence has yet to reach the same conclusion, but U.S. officials say they must assume that Pyongyang has at least an untested capability to miniaturize and launch a nuclear weapon.
JAMES CLAPPER, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: It is also committed to developing a long-range nuclear-armed missile that's capable of posing a direct threat to the United States.
SCIUTTO: Some nuclear analysts share South Korea's more dire assessment.
JOE CIRINCIONE, PLOUGHSHARES FUND: I've been very skeptical about North Korea's capabilities. But the evidence is mounting. They probably have a nuclear warhead that can fit on a missile that could hit South Korea or Japan.
SCIUTTO: South Korea's assessment now shared in some U.S. intelligence circles follows a series of successful tests by Pyongyang, beginning with an underground nuclear test in January and followed by four missile tests, including a space launch believed to be a step toward an intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the U.S.
Recent satellite images also show suspicious activity at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear facility. It is used to produce plutonium to build nuclear weapons.
In response, the U.N., the U.S., and China have all recently imposed harsh economic sanctions on North Korea, and the U.S. recently flew a nuclear capable B-52 near North Korean air space and sailed a U.S. aircraft carrier near its waters.
But North Korea has continued to make progress toward its long stated goal of becoming a nuclear power.
CIRINCIONE: U.S. policy has failed. We have not stopped them. We've tried ignoring them. We've tried sanctioning them. It doesn't work.
SCIUTTO: U.S. defense officials tell me that the U.S. has already taken several steps to safeguard the U.S. and its allies in the region from a North Korean nuclear strike. This includes boosting the number of ground-based interceptors, and deploying new missile defense to South Korea. This is the high altitude defense system known as THAAD. Though I am told that is still months away.
Jim Sciutto, cnn, Washington.
cnn首席国家安全记者吉姆·休托：韩国表示，现在朝鲜的中距离导弹已能搭载核武器。韩国情报机构断定，平壤的“芦洞”弹道导弹可搭配1吨重弹头，最远射程可达1200英里，韩国、日本以及美国在亚洲的军事基地均在其核打击范围内。
朝鲜独裁者金正恩已经开始庆祝了，他在朝鲜所称的导弹弹头附近拍照留念。
美国情报机构尚未得出相同结论，但是美国官员表示，他们必须假定平壤至少拥有可微型化核武器并发射核武器的未验证能力。
美国国家情报总监詹姆斯·克拉珀：朝鲜一直致力于开发可直接威胁美国的远程核弹头导弹。
休托：一些核分析专家提出了比韩国的说法更可怕的评估。
犁头基金会的乔·奇林乔内：我一直非常怀疑朝鲜的能力。但是证据在不断涌现。他们可能拥有可搭载在导弹上的核弹头，可打击韩国和日本。
休托：一些美国情报人员认可了韩国的评估，因为平壤进行了一系列成功试射，朝鲜在1月份进行了地下核试验，随后进行了4次导弹测试，包括次太空发射，这次发射被认为是向可打击美国的洲际弹道导弹迈进了一步。
近期的卫星图片显示，朝鲜宁边核设施在进行可疑的活动。该设施用来生产可制造核武器的钚。
作为回应，近期联合国、美国和中国都对朝鲜施加了严厉的经济制裁，另外，最近美国派出一架可携带核武器的B52轰炸机飞至朝鲜领空附近，并派出一架航空母舰靠近朝鲜海域。
但是朝鲜仍继续向其成为核大国的长期目标迈进。
奇林乔内：美国的政策失败了。我们没能阻止朝鲜。我们试过无视他们。也试过制裁他们。但是都没有奏效。
休托：美国国防官员告诉我，美国在保卫美国及该地区盟友免遭朝鲜核袭击方面已经采取了多项措施。这些措施包括增加陆基导弹拦截系统的数量、在韩国部署导弹防御系统。美国在韩国部署的是高空导弹防御系统萨德。不过我听说这还需要几个月的时间。
cnn，吉姆·休托华盛顿报道。