朝鲜承认一艘军舰在10月份沉没

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.

朝鲜悄悄承认一艘军舰在10月份沉没，显然导致多人丧生。此举是这个威权政府不寻常的一次承认失败。

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".

这一事故是在官方媒体对最高领导人金正恩(Kim Jong Un)参谒一个人民军海军墓地的报道中透露的。报道称，这个墓地埋葬着“今年10月中旬在执行战斗任务时壮烈牺牲的233号猎潜舰指挥官和水兵”。

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)发布的一张照片显示，金正恩蹲在两个年轻水兵的墓前，墓碑上雕刻的死亡日期为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.”

“部队在演习中丧生的事以前也发生过，”韩国世宗研究院(Sejong Institute)研究员郑相昌(Cheong Seong-Chang)表示。“但他们现在公开承认这起事故，这个事实显示他们的态度发生重大变化。以往，他们倾向于掩盖此类事故。”

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，朝鲜官方电视台宣布发射卫星的尝试失败——这与其在1998年和2009年的表现形成鲜明对比，那时官方媒体宣称发射成功，而国外的共识是那些尝试都失败了。

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”.

有关参谒墓地的报道强调了金正恩的悲痛心情。他表示，自从他的这些“战友”死亡以来，他心疼得睡不着觉。

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.

国际危机集团(International Crisis Group)的丹尼尔•平克斯顿(Daniel Pinkston)表示，这个姿态似乎是这名年轻领导人笼络军队人心的努力的一部分。他指出，即便不公布消息，全军上下也很可能通过口口相传了解到这起事故。

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月从去世的父亲手里接过大权以来，金正恩对朝鲜军方高层进行了数十年来最大范围的清洗，搞掉了一批在他父亲主政期间提拔上来的老年将领。上月，官方媒体证实朝鲜在15个月里第四次更换人民军总参谋长。

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.

在近期与美国前任官员商谈期间，朝鲜代表表示，该国愿意考虑重启陷于停滞的有关朝鲜核武计划的“六方会谈”，但坚持要求谈判不可预设条件。

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.

参与商谈的美方人员警告，这与美方的要求不符。美国要求，在开始谈判之前，朝鲜必须先拿出一些有意放弃核武的行动。

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.

不过，六方会谈的其他成员国仍在进行磋商。韩国、日本和美国官员本周将在华盛顿就朝鲜核武计划举行商讨，同时俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)下周访问首尔期间，这件事也将列于议程重要地位。