he Trump¹ administration pushed ahead with hopes for a summit soon with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, after talks on Thursday with envoys³ from Pyongyang and the announcement of an expected meeting Friday between the country’s top nuclear negotiator and President Trump.

周四，特朗普政府与平壤的特使进行了会谈，并宣布预计将于周五进行朝鲜最高核谈判代表和特朗普总统之间的会晤，这推进了与朝鲜领导人即将进行首脑会晤的希望。

After discussions in New York, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he is “confident we are moving in the right direction.”

在纽约进行磋商后，美国国务卿迈克·庞皮欧(Mike Pompeo)表示，他“确信我们在往对的方向前进”。

Mr. Pompeo maintained that the United States would continue to demand a fully verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. But he acknowledged that significant challenges remained and predicted more “tough moments and difficult times” as the two sides negotiate.

庞皮欧坚称，美国会继续提出朝鲜半岛可充分核实且不可逆的无核化要求。但他承认其中仍然存在着重大挑战，并预计双方在谈判中会有更多“艰难和棘手的时刻”。

Still, Mr. Pompeo cited “real progress” in rescheduling a summit meeting between Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump that was set for June 12 in Singapore, before the American president canceled it last week.

尽管如此，庞皮欧宣称重新安排金正日和特朗普之间的峰会一事取得了“实质进展”，峰会原定于6月12日在新加坡举行，上周美国总统将会面取消。

It would be “nothing short of tragic⁴ to let this opportunity go to waste,” Mr. Pompeo told reporters after two and a half hours of discussions with Kim Yong-chol, the former North Korean intelligence chief and top nuclear arms negotiator.

在与朝鲜前情报机构高官、高级核武器谈判代表金英哲(Kim Yong-chol)进行了两个半小时的磋商后，庞皮欧告诉记者，要是“浪费了这个机会，那无异于是一个悲剧”。

“If these talks are successful, they will truly be historic,” he said.

“这些谈判若能成功，将会成为真正的历史性时刻，”他说。

The diplomacy⁵ is expected to continue on Friday in Washington, where Mr. Trump is planning to receive a letter from the North Korean leader, hand-delivered by his envoys.

外交活动预计将于周五在华盛顿继续展开。特朗普将收到特使亲手转交的朝鲜领导人的信件。

In remarks to reporters on Thursday, Mr. Trump said it was not clear if the show of tenuous⁶ détente would be enough to strike a deal to hold the summit meeting but said negotiations⁷ between Washington and Pyongyang — which both sides hope will end decades of enmity and suspicion — are “in good hands.”

特朗普周四在对记者的讲话中表示，目前尚不清楚紧张关系的一丝缓和是否足以达成举办首脑会晤的协议，但他表示，华盛顿和平壤之间的谈判——双方都希望能结束数十年的敌意和猜疑——正在“妥善处理”中。

The meeting set for Friday came as a surprise even to some on Mr. Trump’s staff, and he offered few details when he announced it. It would be a rare visit similar to one made to Washington in 2000 by Vice⁸ Marshal Jo Myong Rok, who was then North Korea’s second-most-powerful official. Mr. Jo met President Bill Clinton and delivered a letter from North Korea’s leader at the time, Kim Jong-il.

预计周五进行的会晤对特朗普的一些工作人员来说甚至都是一个意外，宣布时，他也未提供什么细节。这次会晤将会和朝鲜当时权力第二大的高官——次帅赵明录(Jo Myong-rok)2000年访问华盛顿类似，是一场罕见来访。赵明录与比尔·克林顿(Bill Clinton)总统进行了会晤，并转交了一封来自朝鲜当时的领导人金正日的信件。

Mr. Trump’s decision to personally meet the North Korean envoy² displayed his eagerness to be at the center of the action for the high-stakes talks.

特朗普决定亲自会见朝鲜特使，表现了他希望站在这场高风险谈判行动中心的急切心情。

A senior State Department official told reporters on Wednesday night that it would be natural for the North Korean delegation⁹ to pass communications through Mr. Pompeo, to then deliver to the president. The official, who spoke¹⁰ on the condition of anonymity¹¹, said then that he would be surprised if the envoys delivered a letter to the president personally.

国务院一位高级官员周三晚告诉记者，正常的做法是朝鲜代表团通过庞皮欧传递信息给总统。这位不愿透露姓名的官员表示，如果特使亲自向总统递交一封信件，他是会感到惊讶的。

Michael Green, a former senior Asia adviser¹² to President George W. Bush, said the flurry of diplomatic activity had already led South Korea, Russia and China to either propose, consider or undertake a softening¹³ of sanctions.

曾担任乔治·W·布什(George W. Bush)亚洲事务顾问的迈克尔·格林(Michael Green)表示，一连串的外交活动已使韩国、俄国和中国或提出、或考虑、或开始减轻制裁。

“North Korea’s goal is to defuse sanctions, and it’s already working,” Mr. Green said. “There’s nothing that the North Koreans have put on the table that suggests any serious intent to denuclearize.”

“朝鲜的目标是化解制裁，并且已经奏效了，”格林说。“朝鲜已经摆上谈判桌的，并没有表明他们真地有意无核化。”

American and North Korean envoys have also been meeting in Panmunjom, in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, and another set of officials has held talks in Singapore to hash out the logistics of putting the June 12 summit meeting back on.

美国和朝鲜的特使还在朝韩之间的非军事区——板门店举行了会晤。另一批官员还在新加坡举行了会谈，详细讨论重启6月12日首脑会晤的后勤问题。

The blizzard¹⁴ of meetings represents a breathtaking change from the bellicose¹⁵ language the two sides lobbed at each other for much of last year, with Mr. Trump threatening to unleash¹⁶ “fire and fury” against North Korea if it endangered the United States.

突如其来的一系列会谈表明，双方已从去年大部分时间内不断抛出的好斗语言中有了惊人转变。特朗普去年威胁称，如果朝鲜危及美国，他会向朝鲜发动“怒火和炮火”。

But the two sides still remain far apart. The Trump administration has largely insisted that North Korea commit itself to a rapid and complete unwinding of its nuclear program, although the president recently opened the door to a phased dismantling¹⁷.

但双方依旧存在很大分歧。尽管总统近期打开了分阶段拆除核计划的大门，但特朗普政府仍在很大程度上坚持要求朝鲜迅速并完整地弃核。

President Moon Jae-in of South Korea, who served as an early mediator¹⁸ between Washington and Pyongyang, is known to favor a step-by-step process that would lift some sanctions against North Korea in exchange for verifiable steps to stop or reverse its weapons programs. North Korea is thought to favor such an approach.

众所周知，华盛顿和平壤之间早期的调节者——韩国总统文在寅赞同分步走的进程，用减轻制裁来换取朝鲜停止或废除其武器计划的可验证步骤。人们认为朝鲜更喜欢这种办法。

A senior South Korean official warned on Wednesday that differences between the two sides were substantial.

韩国一位高级官员周三警告，双方存在显著分歧。

“It won’t be easy to narrow the gap and find common ground, but I think it would not be impossible,” Cho Myoung-gyon, the South’s unification minister, said in a speech in Seoul.

“要缩小差距并找到共同点并不容易，但我认为这不是不可能的，”韩国统一部部长赵明均(Cho Myoung-gyon)在首尔发表讲话时说。

Deep divisions remain within the Trump administration, and have led in part to the sharp reversals in the approach to the reclusive country. In March, Mr. Trump impulsively¹⁹ accepted the invitation to meet with Mr. Kim — the summit meeting that he canceled last week, only to reopen the door a day later.

特朗普政府内部仍然存在深刻分歧，并部分导致了对待朝鲜这个与世隔绝国家的态度出现急剧逆转。三月，特朗普冲动地接受了与金正恩会面的邀请——上周他取消了这一会晤，可一天后又再次重启。