從金正男之死看朝鮮與東南亞商業聯繫

The apparent assassination of the North Korean leader’s half-brother in Kuala Lumpur, which triggered a fierce diplomatic clash between the two countries, has thrown a spotlight on the growing commercial ties between Pyongyang and Southeast Asia.

朝鮮領導人同父異母的兄長疑似在吉隆坡遭暗殺，引發了朝馬兩國之間激烈的外交衝突，而平壤和東南亞之間日益增進的商業聯繫也隨之受到了人們的密切關注。

From the expansion across the region of the “Pyongyang” restaurant chain — where North Korean hostesses sing karaoke hits extolling the Kim family as diners tuck into cold noodles and kimchi — to the North Korea-built Angkor Panorama museum near Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple complex, the isolated regime has reached across the region in an attempt to generate hard currency and win friends.

從“平壤”連鎖飯店——當客人吃着冷麪和朝鮮泡菜時，朝鮮女服務員唱着卡拉OK讚美金氏家族——在整個東南亞地區的擴張，到柬埔寨吳哥窟寺廟羣附近由朝鮮建造的吳哥全景博物館(Angkor Panorama Museum)，這個被孤立的政權已經把觸角伸向了整個東南亞地區，目的是賺取硬通貨和結交朋友。

Pyongyang has also turned to Southeast Asia in search of ways to evade international sanctions; Singapore-based shipping companies have been accused of facilitating arms shipments to North Korea.

平壤方面還轉向東南亞尋找躲避國際制裁的方法；新加坡的船運公司被指協助向朝鮮運輸武器。

One of these companies, Chinpo Shipping, was fined S$180,000 (US$127,000) last year after being found guilty in a Singapore court of transferring financial assets or resources that could have been used to contribute to North Korea’s weapons programmes.

去年，新加坡一家法庭判處其中一家公司奇諾船運(Chinpo Shipping)轉移金融財產或資源——可能被用於推進朝鮮的武器項目——罪名成立，判處罰金18萬新加坡元（合12.7萬美元）。

On Monday, Malaysia recalled its top diplomat in Pyongyang and summoned the North Korean ambassador for a reprimand as tension mounted between the two countries over the handling of the inquiry into the murder of Kim Jong Nam.

在如何對金正男(Kim Jong Nam)被殺事件進行調查的問題上，朝鮮與馬來西亞之間的關係變得更加緊張，週一馬來西亞召回了駐平壤的最高外交官，並召見朝鮮駐馬大使進行譴責。

Pyongyang has sought to block an autopsy, and has demanded the release of Kim’s body. Malaysian authorities have insisted on conducting an investigation, and say the body must be handed to Kim’s next-of-kin.

平壤試圖阻止屍檢，要求馬方把金正男的遺體移交朝鮮。馬來西亞政府堅持進行調查，稱遺體必須交給死者的近親。

Until now, however, North Korea has enjoyed an increasingly cordial relationship with Malaysia.

然而，在這以前，朝鮮與馬來西亞的關係日益親密。

Malaysia is the only country in the world to enjoy visa-free travel with North Korea. Singapore, which once also had visa-free travel, introduced requirements last year in response to fresh UN sanctions following a North Korean nuclear test.

馬來西亞如今是世界上唯一一個與朝鮮實行互免簽證的國家。新加坡（也曾對朝鮮實行免簽證制度）去年出臺了簽證新規，以迴應朝鮮核試驗後聯合國實施的新制裁。

As North Korea has turned to tourism to raise revenue and whitewash its image, Pyongyang chose Kuala Lumpur as the venue for an office to promote travel from Southeast Asia and India.

隨着朝鮮轉向發展旅遊業以求增加收入並洗白形象，平壤方面選擇在吉隆坡成立了一個負責向東南亞和印度進行旅遊推廣的辦公室。

Malaysia also makes use of North Korean expertise, with 80 of the communist republic’s nationals working in construction and mining in Sarawak, a Malaysian state on the resource-rich island of Borneo.

馬來西亞也利用朝鮮的專業人才，目前有80名朝鮮人在沙撈越(Sarawak)從事建築業和採礦業工作。沙撈越是馬來西亞的一個州，位於資源豐富的婆羅洲島上。

Under a barter arrangement, Malaysia has traded palm oil — widely used for cooking in Asia — with fertiliser from North Korea. There is a growing trade relationship between the countries, although its total value remains modest, at just Rm22.7m ($5m) in 2015

根據一項易貨貿易安排，馬來西亞用棕櫚油（在亞洲廣泛用於烹飪）交換朝鮮的化肥。兩國之間的貿易關係日益緊密，儘管總貿易額仍然較少，2015年僅爲2270萬馬來西亞林吉特（合500萬美元）。

Analysts say Malaysia’s engagement has been driven by commercial opportunities, as well as a tradition of nonaligned diplomacy.

分析人士稱，商業機會和奉行不結盟外交政策的傳統推動了馬來西亞與朝鮮的往來。

Lee Jaehyon, an expert on Southeast Asia at the Asan Institute in Seoul, said: “In the 1960s and 1970s, North Korea was close with the communist regimes and nonaligned countries in the region. Malaysia has an eye on the economic benefits if North Korea opens up.”

韓國峨山政策研究院(Asan Institute for Policy Studies)東南亞問題專家李載賢(Lee Jaehyon)表示：“在20世紀60年代和70年代，朝鮮與東南亞的社會主義政權和不結盟國家關係密切。馬來西亞在關注着如果朝鮮對外開放會帶來的經濟利益。”

Apart from Malaysia and Indonesia — which has sought to be a bridge between the two Koreas — other countries have not pushed the relationship with Pyongyang as strongly.

除了馬來西亞和印度尼西亞——後者試圖成爲朝鮮和韓國之間的橋樑——其他東南亞國家並未如此強有力地推動對朝關係。

Cambodia’s late King Sihanouk used North Korean bodyguards, reflecting his good relationship with Kim Il Sung, North Korea’s first leader and grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un. Analysts say it was also a sign the monarch did not trust domestically available protection during a time of political turbulence.

柬埔寨已故國王西哈努克(King Sihanouk)使用朝鮮警衛員，反映了他與朝鮮第一代領導人、現任領導人金正恩(Kim Jong Un)的祖父金日成(Kim Il Sung)之間的良好關係。分析人士表示，這也表明在政治動盪時期西哈努克並不信任國內的保衛力量。

“They looked like they had walked off the set of Reservoir Dogs — black suits, white shirts, black ties,” recalls one former resident of Phnom Penh of the bodyguards.

“他們看着就像是從影片《落水狗》(Reservoir Dogs)中走出來的——黑西裝、白襯衫和黑領帶，”警衛員中一位曾常駐金邊(Phnom Penh)的人回憶稱。

In Cambodia, North Korea’s Mansudae art studio has built a museum dedicated to Angkor Wat, including a 123-metre wide oil painting depicting Angkor’s history, which was created by dozens of North Korean artists. The studio has built monuments and museums across the world.

在柬埔寨，朝鮮的萬壽臺創作社美術館(Mansudae art studio)建造了一座專門陳列吳哥窟(Angkor Wat)主題作品的博物館，其中有一幅123米寬的描述吳哥歷史的油畫，是由幾十名朝鮮藝術家聯合創作的。該美術館在世界各地設立了不少紀念碑和博物館。

Media reports have long claimed that Pyongyang provided weapons to the Myanmar junta during its years of international semi-isolation before it formally stepped down in 2011.

媒體在很長時間裏一直報道稱，在緬甸處於在國際上被半孤立的時期，平壤向該國軍政府提供武器，直到後者於2011年正式下臺。

US officials have since suggested the alleged links are now restricted to individual Myanmar officers rather than the military high command or civilian-led government.

美國官員後來暗示，這種所謂的聯繫如今只限於緬甸官員個人，而不是軍方最高指揮機構或文官領導的政府。

One reminder of the ties that still bind came in 2015, when Myanmar authorities seized pirated copies of the film The Interview — the Sony Pictures comedy about a plot to assassinate Kim Jong Un — from market stalls after North Korean officials objected to seeing them on sale.

發生在2015年的一件事提醒人們，這種聯繫至今仍是存在的。當時，緬甸當局從市場攤位上收繳了影片《採訪》(The Interview)——索尼影視(Sony Pictures)出品的一部主題爲刺殺金正恩的喜劇片——的盜版光盤，此前朝鮮官員反對此片在市面上銷售。

Additional reporting by Michael Peel in Bangkok, Buseong Kang in Seoul and Ben Bland in Hong Kong

邁克爾?皮爾(Michael Peel)曼谷、Buseong Kang首爾和本?布蘭德(Ben Bland)香港補充報道