朝鲜向美国归还牺牲军人遗骸

    North Korea has returned to the United States more than 55 sets of human remains.
    朝鲜已经向美国归还了55盒遗骸。

    The remains are believed to be of Americans killed during the Korean War in North Korea.
    据信这些遗骸属于在朝鲜战争期间牺牲的美国人。

    A special ceremony was held at Osan Airbase in South Korea to mark the return.
    韩国乌山空军基地举行了一场特别仪式迎接这些遗骸的回归。

    The 55 boxes fulfill a promise, after some delay, by North Korea's leader to U.S. President Donald Trump during their meeting in Singapore on June 12.
    这55盒遗骸完成了朝鲜领导人在6月12日新加坡会晤期间对美国总统川普的承诺。

    Identifying remains will take time
    确定遗骸身份尚需时日

    An unidentified U.S. defense official, however, said there was only one set of military identification tags, known as dog tags, with the remains.
    然而一位身份不明的美国国防官员表示,这些遗骸中只有一个俗称为“狗牌”的军人身份识别牌。

    The official spoke to the Associated Press on the condition that the person would not be identified. The defense official said, "It could take months, or even years to identify them."
    这位官员跟美联社谈到了遗骸身份无法识别的这种情况。这位国防官员表示:“可能需要数月、甚至数年的时间来辨认这些遗骸的身份。”

    North Korea has provided very little information to help identify the remains, a defense official told VOA.
    一位国防官员对美国之音表示,朝鲜提供的用于帮助确认遗骸身份的信息很少。

    It could be difficult to find out if the remains are even American military members.
    甚至可能很难确认这些遗骸身份是否是美国军人。

    Troops from 16 other United Nations member countries fought with the U.S. during the war. Service members from countries including Australia, Belgium, France and the Philippines also have not been recovered from North Korea.
    来自其它16个联合国成员国的士兵在朝鲜战争期间与美国并肩作战。包括澳大利亚、比利时、法国和菲律宾等国的军人也未能从朝鲜回来。

    Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the return of the 55 boxes was a good step but not a guarantee that the bones are American. "We don't know who's in those boxes," Mattis said.
    上周,美国国防部长马蒂斯表示,55盒遗骸的回归是很好的一步,但不能确保这些遗骸属于美国人。马蒂斯表示:“我们不知道这是谁的遗骸。”

    The U.S. Defense Department estimates that about 7,700 American service members were missing during the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. About 5,300 were believed to be on North Korean soil. Many were placed in shallow burials on battlefields.
    美国国防部估计在1950年到1953年的朝鲜战争期间,大约有7700名美国士兵失踪。据认为大约有5300人被埋在朝鲜,许多人被浅葬在战场上。

    Efforts to recover remains in North Korea have faced political and other barriers. Between 1990 and 1994, North Korea returned 208 containers to the U.S. with remains. But examination showed that the remains were from more than 208 individuals. Of those, 181 have been identified.
    归还遗骸的努力在朝鲜面临了政治和其它障碍。在1990年到1994年期间,朝鲜向美国归还了208盒遗骸。但是检查显示这些遗骸来自于超过208人。其中181人已被确定身份。

    Also, between 1996 and 2005, U.S.-North Korea joint efforts resulted in the recovery of 229 containers of remains. The Defense Department said 153 individuals have been identified.
    此外,在1996年到2005年期间,美国和朝鲜合作促成了229盒遗骸的回归。国防部表示已经确认了153人的身份。

    The U.S. official who discussed the recently returned bones said the U.S. is considering including South Korea in future searches for remains in North Korea.
    这位讨论了最近返还的遗骸的美国官员表示,美国正考虑未来在朝鲜的遗骸搜寻工作中加入韩国。

    Richard Downes' father is one of the Korean War missing. He said that hopefully the most recent set of remains will lead to more information about those who are missing.
    唐斯的父亲是朝鲜战争的失踪人员之一。他说,希望最新归还的这批遗骸能够提供更多有关失踪者的信息。

    I'm Mario Ritter.
    我是马里奥·里特。(51VOA.COM原创翻译,禁止转载,违者必究!)