PARAGRAPH, WORDS AND MEANINGS
TOPIC OF THE DAY –
Missed Opportunity: On Cancellation Of Trump-Kim Summit
American President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to call off his planned June 12 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore has not only dashed hopes of a breakthrough but also heightened risks of a confrontation on the Korean peninsula. It brings a very unusual spell of diplomacy full circle. Unlike the standard practice of announcing landmark summits after working out an understanding on the agenda through quiet diplomacy, Mr. Trump accepted Mr. Kim’s invitation in March and let it be known to the public immediately. That was surprising given the acrimony in both Mr. Trump’s and Mr. Kim’s public utterances over the past year. Once Mr. Trump had cleared the summit proposal, North Korea also moved fast, making a series of gestures meant to smoothen the path for the meeting. In end-April, there was a summit between Mr. Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a border village in the demilitarised zone. The North pledged to halt nuclear and missile tests and released three Korean-Americans. And, hours before Mr. Trump cancelled the summit on Thursday, it dismantledits Punggye-ri nuclear test site — critics say it was already inoperable, but that was a symbolic gesture nonetheless. The United States should have taken into account these steps by the North rather than harp on the rhetoric. It could also have made some goodwill gestures to lighten the air, such as cancelling a joint military exercise with South Korea. But it went ahead with the military drill, with Pyongyang slamming both Washington and Seoul even as preparations for the summit were under way. Besides, Mr. Trump’s new National Security Adviser, John Bolton, angered the North Koreans by suggesting that Mr. Kim could follow the 2003 Libyan disarmament model. This was followed by Vice President Mike Pence’s threat that Mr. Kim could meet the same fate as Muammar Qadhafi — who was killed by rebels after a NATO-led invasion in 2011 — if he failed to reach a deal with the U.S. This triggered the unravelling of the summit, with the North once again warning the U.S. of a nuclear showdown. Despite the setback, hopes for an eventual one-to-one meeting still exist. In a letter to Mr. Kim, Mr. Trump said the North was welcome to return to talks if it changed its attitude towards the U.S. Pyongyang also issued a conciliatory response, saying that it hoped the U.S. President would reconsider his decision to “unilaterally” cancel the summit. Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim should keep in mind the larger goal of de-escalationof tension, if not outright denuclearisation, on the peninsula and work to reschedule the summit. The only sound way to address the Korean nuclear crisis is diplomacy.
WORDS AND MEANINGS –
Abrupt
Meaning: Sudden and unexpected.
Example: “I was surprised by the abrupt change of subject”
Synonyms: Sudden, Immediate.
Call off
Meaning: To cancel or abandon.
Example: The game was called off because of rain.
Dashed
Meaning: Used for emphasis.
Example: “It’s a dashed shame”
Breakthrough
Meaning: A sudden, dramatic, and important discovery or development.
Example: “A major breakthrough in the fight against AIDS”
Synonyms: Advance, Development.
Heighten
Meaning: Make or become more intense.
Example: “The pleasure was heightened by the sense of guilt that accompanied it”
Synonyms: Intensify, Increase.
Confrontation
Meaning: A hostile or argumentative situation or meeting between opposing parties.
Example: “A confrontation with the legislature”
Synonyms: Conflict, Clash.
Acrimony
Meaning: Bitterness or ill feeling.
Example: “The AGM dissolved into acrimony”
Synonyms: Bitterness, Rancour.
Utterance
Meaning: A spoken word, statement, or vocal sound.
Example: “He whispered, as if to lend his utterances an added confidentiality”
Synonyms: Remark, Comment.
Gesture
Meaning: Make a gesture.
Example: “She gestured meaningfully with the pistol”
Demilitarize
Meaning: Remove all military forces from (an area).
Example: “A demilitarized zone”
Pledge
Meaning: Commit (a person or organization) by a solemn promise.
Example: “The government pledged itself to deal with environmental problems”
29) Halt
Meaning: Bring or come to an abrupt stop.
Example: “There is growing pressure to halt the bloodshed”
Synonyms: Stop, Come to a halt.
Dismantle
Meaning: Take (a machine or structure) to pieces.
Example: “The engines were dismantled, and the bits piled into a heap”
Synonyms: Take apart, Take to pieces.
Inoperable
Meaning: Not able to be used.
Example: “The airfield was bombed and made inoperable”
Synonyms: Unusable, Out of action.
Harp
Meaning: Talk or write persistently and tediously on (a particular topic).
Example: “I don’t want to harp on about the past”
Synonyms: Keep on about, Go on about.
Rhetoric
Meaning: The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.
Example: “He is using a common figure of rhetoric, hyperbole”
Synonyms: Oratory, Eloquence.
Slamming
Meaning: The practice of switching a customer from one telephone service provider to another without the customer’s authorization.
Unravel
Meaning: Investigate and solve or explain (something complicated or puzzling).
Example: “They were attempting to unravel the cause of death”
Synonyms: Solve, Resolve.
Setback
Meaning: A reversal or check in progress.
Example: “A serious setback for the peace process”
Synonyms: Problem, Difficulty.
Conciliatory
Meaning: Intended or likely to placate or pacify.
Example: “A conciliatory approach”
Synonyms: Propitiatory, Placatory.
De–escalate
Meaning: To (cause to) become less dangerous or difficult.
Example: “The government has taken these measures in an attempt to de-escalate the conflict”
Outright
Meaning: Immediately or instantly.
Example: “The impact killed four horses outright”
Synonyms: Instantly, Instantaneously.
Crisis
Meaning: A time of intense difficulty or danger.
Example: “The current economic crisis”
Synonyms: Catastrophe, Calamity.