本周，朝鲜将派出其礼仪性的国家元首出席韩国冬奥会(Winter Olympics)开幕式，这提振了首尔方面在半岛问题上取得外交突破的希望。
Kim Yong Nam — nominally the North’s number 2 leader after Kim Jong Un — will lead a “high-level delegation” to the Pyeongchang Games, North Korean state media reported on Monday.
朝鲜官方媒体周一报道称，朝鲜名义上仅排在金正恩(Kim Jong Un)之后的“二号”领导人金永南(Kim Yong Nam，文首图右)将率领一个“高级别的代表团”出席平昌奥运会。
The move comes amid a period of detente between Pyongyang and Seoul, which hopes the North’s participation in the games can lay a foundation for eased tensions and diplomatic engagement on the peninsula.
此举正值朝韩两国关系处于缓和期。首尔方面希望，朝鲜参加本届奥运会能为缓和半岛紧张和推进外交接触奠定基础。
However, the initiative by Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s president, has been met with scepticism at home and abroad.
然而，韩国总统文在寅(Moon Jae-in)的这一举措在国内外都遭到了质疑。
The differences between Seoul and Washington — allies for more than 70 years — could be laid bare at the opening ceremony on Friday.
作为70多年来的盟友，韩国和美国之间的分歧可能会在本周五的冬奥会开幕式上暴露出来。
Analysts believe Seoul will attempt to orchestrate a meeting between the top US delegate, vice-president Mike Pence, and the North Korean delegation in a bid to promote dialogue between the two adversaries.
分析人士认为，首尔方面将试图安排出席本届奥运会的美方最高代表美国副总统迈克•彭斯(Mike Pence)与朝鲜代表团会面，推动这两个彼此对立的国家展开对话。
That possibility, however, now looks fraught after an aide to Mr Pence told US media that the vice-president would use the ceremony to “remind the world that everything the North Koreans do at the Olympics is a charade”.
但在彭斯的一名助手告诉美国媒体副总统将利用开幕式“提醒世界，朝鲜人在奥运会上所做的一切都是在做戏”之后，这一可能性现在看起来很暗淡。
The South Korean presidential Blue House said the inclusion of Kim Yong Nam in the North’s delegation appeared to indicate Pyongyang’s “sincerity” towards rapprochement. It said Mr Moon was considering a one-on-one meeting with Mr Kim.
韩国总统府青瓦台(Blue House)表示，金永南加入朝鲜代表团似乎表明，平壤方面对于和解是“真诚的”。青瓦台表示，文在寅在考虑与金永南展开一对一会晤。
The 90-year-old is officially president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly of North Korea. Despite being nominally second in the regime’s hierarchy, his role is mostly ceremonial and he has little in the way of real power.
金永南现年90岁，官方职务是朝鲜最高人民会议常任委员会委员长。尽管他在朝鲜政权的等级架构中名义上排名第二，但他的职务主要是礼仪性的、并不掌握多少实权。
