只有两名朝鲜运动员廉太钰和金柱希的成绩有资格参加平昌冬奥会。 ED JONES/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES
TOKYO — The arrival of 22 athletes from North Korea to compete in the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, has been greeted by a predictable news media scrum, with journalists scrambling to coax comments from these emissaries of one of the world’s most reclusive countries.
东京——不出意外，22名参加韩国平昌冬奥会的朝鲜运动员的到来，受到了一大批新闻媒体的欢迎。各路记者争相引导堪称全世界最封闭的国家的这些使者发表评论。
Like many things known about North Korea, its state athletic program is obscured by propaganda and limited access. But cobbling together information from the country’s state news media, analysts, defectors and athletes who have competed alongside North Koreans has given us some insights.
和已知的很多有关朝鲜的事情一样，其国家体育计划被宣传和有限的开放所掩盖。但把来自该国官方新闻媒体、分析人士、脱北者和与朝鲜运动员同场竞技的运动员的信息拼凑在一起，给了我们一些启示。
Who are the North Korean athletes competing in Pyeongchang?
在平昌比赛的朝鲜运动员是谁？
This year, only two athletes in the North Korean contingent — the figure skating pair Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik — qualified for the Games on merit by placing at a competition last fall in Oberstdorf, Germany. The rest, including short track speedskaters and both alpine and cross-country skiers, have been granted exemptions by the International Olympic Committee. A dozen North Koreans have also joined the South Korean women’s ice hockey team. The expectation is that few, if any, of North Korea’s athletes will end up on a medal podium.
今年，朝鲜代表团中只有两名运动员，即花样滑冰双人组合廉太钰(Ryom Tae-ok)和金柱希(Kim Ju-sik)的成绩有资格参加冬奥会。他们在去年秋天德国奥伯斯多夫的比赛中取得了名次。其余的运动员，包括短道速滑选手和高山及越野滑雪选手，均被国际奥委会(International Olympic Committee)免去了资格限制。还有十余名朝鲜运动员加入了韩国女子冰球队。外界预计，朝鲜运动员中即便有人登上领奖台，人数也很少。
周一，朝鲜运动员抵达韩国江陵。朝鲜和韩国将派出一支女子冰球联队。 BARBARA WALTON/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
Why is North Korea sending athletes?
朝鲜为什么会派出运动员？
Their participation is a potential publicity coup for Kim Jong-un, the country’s leader, as it shifts attention away from his nuclear program and human rights abuses.
对朝鲜领导人金正恩(Kim Jong-un)来说，在朝鲜转移外界对其核计划和侵犯人权的关注之际，他们参加比赛可能是一次成功的宣传。
“Just by participating in these high-profile games, North Korea comes across as far more empathetic,” said Lee Sung-yoon, a professor of Korean studies at Tufts University.
“只用参加这些广受关注的比赛，朝鲜就能给人更有同理心的印象，”塔夫斯大学(Tufts University)朝韩研究教授李成允(Lee Sung-yoon)说。
“Because they are so poor and backward, we tend to be somewhat fascinated by any glimpse of North Koreans,” Mr. Lee said. “And when they are working so hard you tend to root for them because they are such an underdog in so many ways.”
“因为他们太穷，太落后，我们往往对有关朝鲜的一切都感兴趣，”李成允说。“而当他们非常努力的时候，你往往会给他们加油，因为他们在很多方面完全属于弱势群体。”
How has North Korea performed at past Olympics?
朝鲜在过去的奥运会上表现如何？
North Korean athletes have competed on and off in the Games since 1964, when Han Pil-hwa won the silver medal in the 3,000-meter women’s speedskating race. That was the first of only two medals that North Korea has won at any Winter Games. It did not send any athletes to the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.
自从1964年韩弼花(Han Pil-hwa)取得女子3000米速滑银牌以来，朝鲜运动员一直断断续续地参加冬奥会。朝鲜在冬季奥运会上仅取得两枚奖牌，这是第一枚。2014年，朝鲜没有派运动员参加在俄罗斯索契举行的冬奥会。
The country has fared better at the Summer Olympics, winning a total of 54 medals in judo, weight lifting and gymnastics. At the Rio Games in 2016, North Korean athletes won seven medals.
朝鲜在夏季奥运会上的表现更好一些，在柔道、举重和体操项目上总共获得了54块奖牌。在2016年的里约奥运会上，朝鲜运动员赢得七枚奖牌。
朝鲜运动员洪恩贞和韩国体操运动员李恩珠在2016年里约奥运会上自拍，在网上引起了轰动。 DYLAN MARTINEZ/REUTERS
Who are North Korea’s most successful athletes?
谁是朝鲜最成功的运动员？
North Korea has won a total of 16 gold medals. One of the most well-known winners is Hong Un-jong, who captured a gold medal for gymnastics vault at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She also became an internet sensation after she posed for a selfie with the South Korean gymnast Lee Eun-ju at the Rio Games in 2016.
朝鲜总共获得了16枚金牌。最著名的金牌获得者之一是洪恩贞(Hong Un-jong)。她在2008年北京奥运会上获得了一块跳马金牌。此外，她还因为在2016年里约奥运会上与韩国体操运动员李恩珠(Lee Eun-ju)自拍而在网上走红。
When Kye Sun-hui won gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games, she was the youngest gold medalist ever in judo. She also won a silver medal in 2000 in Sydney, Australia, and a bronze at the 2004 Athens Games.
1996年，桂顺姬(Kye Sun-hui)在亚特兰大奥运会上摘得金牌，成为有史以来最年轻的柔道金牌得主。她还分别在2000年澳大利亚悉尼和2004年雅典奥运会上获得银牌和铜牌。
North Korea does well in judo: At the 2012 London Games, An Kum-ae, then 32, was a surprise gold medalist in the women’s 52-kilogram category.
朝鲜在柔道项目上表现优异：在2012年的伦敦奥运会上，32岁的安琴爱(An Kum-ae)出人意料地在女子52公斤级的比赛中夺得金牌。
It is also a weight lifting powerhouse. At the London Games, North Korea won three gold medals. At the Rio Games, North Korean weight lifters took home four medals.
朝鲜还是一个举重大国。在伦敦奥运会上，朝鲜赢得三枚金牌。在里约奥运会上，朝鲜举重运动员摘得四枚奖牌。
North Korea’s women’s soccer team is ranked 11th in the world, although the team was banned from the World Cup in 2015 after five players tested positive for steroids.
朝鲜女足排名世界第11位。但在五名选手被检查出类固醇阳性后，朝鲜女足被禁止参加2015年的世界杯。
Wasn’t Kim Jong-il said to be an amazing athlete?
金正日(Kim Jong-il)不是据说是一名出色的运动员吗？
According to the state-controlled media in North Korea, Kim Jong-il, father of the current leader, Kim Jong-un, was such a naturally gifted sportsman that he bowled a perfect 300 on his first outing at Pyongyang Lanes in the North Korean capital and somehow shot five holes in one to come in 38 under par the first time he played golf. Who knows what he could have accomplished had he competed internationally in judo or weight lifting.
据朝鲜的官方媒体报道，现任领导人金正恩的父亲金正日是一名非常有天赋的体育爱好者，第一次去位于朝鲜首都的平壤保龄球馆(Pyongyang Lanes)就完美地拿下了300分，第一次打高尔夫时就打出了五次一杆进洞，取得了低于标准杆38杆的成绩。谁知道如果参加国际柔道或举重比赛，他会取得什么成绩。
At international competitions, victorious North Korean athletes must say they owe their success to their leader and country.
在国际比赛中，获胜的朝鲜运动员必须把成功归功于他们的领袖和国家。
朝鲜平壤的羊角岛体育馆。朝鲜政府比较关注那些他们认为自己的运动员可以在国际上取得突出成绩的项目，包括摔跤、武术和足球。 ED JONES/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES
What do we know about the North Korean athletic program?
我们对朝鲜的体育项目有哪些了解？
Analysts who study North Korea say athletes are typically recruited as young children whose talent is spotted on the schoolyard. They are likely to be groomed similarly to athletes in other communist regimes such as China or the former Soviet Union. The military, the police and some factories also sponsor their own sports teams.
研究朝鲜的分析人士表示，朝鲜通常从在学校操场上表现出天赋的儿童中招募运动员。他们被培养成运动员的方式与中国或苏联等其他共产主义国家的培养方式类似。军队、警察和一些工厂也组建自己的运动队。
Because North Korea is such a poor country, its state sports system is probably underfunded compared with China or Russia, whose athletes have been accused of doping. (Russia has been nominally barred from Pyeongchang because of an elaborate state-run doping scheme.) When players on North Korea’s women’s soccer team tested positive for steroids in 2015, officials blamed traditional Chinese medicines made from musk deer glands given to players who had been struck by lightning.
朝鲜十分贫穷，所以与中国或俄罗斯相比，它的国家体育系统很可能资金不足。俄罗斯的运动员被指控服用兴奋剂（由于国家主导的复杂的兴奋剂计划，所以俄罗斯名义上不能参加平昌冬奥会）。2015年，朝鲜女子足球队的运动员被检测出类固醇阳性时，朝鲜的官员们将它归因于被闪电击中的运动员使用的含麝香中药。
In North Korea’s sports program, family loyalty may be as important as athletic ability, said Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Waseda University in Tokyo and an expert on North Korea’s leadership.
东京早稻田大学(Waseda University)教授、研究朝鲜领导层的专家重村智计(Toshimitsu Shigemura)表示，在朝鲜的体育系统中，家庭的忠诚度可能与运动能力同等重要。
Mr. Shigemura said that athletes tend to come from families that hew closely to state ideology and have good connections.
重村智计表示，运动员往往来自那些坚守国家意识形态、与官僚系统有关系的家庭。
The regime also focuses on sports where it believes its athletes can excel internationally, including wrestling, martial arts and soccer.
朝鲜政府比较关注那些他们认为可以在国际上取得突出成绩的项目，包括摔跤、武术和足球。
Do the athletes get special treatment?
朝鲜的运动员享有特殊待遇吗？
Admission to the elite level of sports is probably a way for athletes and their families “to secure a decent lifestyle in North Korea,” said Christopher Green, a North Korea analyst in Seoul, South Korea.
韩国首尔的朝鲜问题分析师克里斯托夫·格林(Christopher Green)表示，对运动员及其家人来说，进入体育精英阶层很可能是“确保在朝鲜过上体面生活的一种方式”。
An Yong-hak, a Japanese-born ethnic Korean who played for North Korea’s national men’s soccer team between 2002 and 2012, said that when he practiced with the team in Pyongyang, “there was always meat, fish, rice, soup, vegetables and plenty of food.” In a country where hunger is still common, such square meals would be a privilege of team membership.
生于日本的朝鲜族运动员安英学(An Yong-hak)曾在2002年至2012年期间为朝鲜国家男子足球队效力，他表示，他在平壤与其他球员训练时，“总能吃到肉、鱼、米饭、汤、蔬菜等大量食物”。在一个饥饿仍很常见的国家，这样丰盛的餐食是球队成员的一项特权。
Those who bring glory to the regime may even be rewarded with cars or houses, but those prizes are probably very limited, said Hwangbo Young, 38, a former North Korean women’s ice hockey player who defected to South Korea in 1997.
1997年叛逃至韩国、现年38岁的前朝鲜女子冰球运动员黄宝英（Hwangbo Young，音）表示，那些给朝鲜政府带来荣誉的运动员甚至可能获得汽车或房子等奖励，但这些奖励非常有限。
“These cases are rare,” said Ms. Hwangbo, “and limited only to gold medalists of major international events like the Olympics or the World Cup games.”
“这种情况很少见，”黄宝英说，“仅限于在奥运会或世界杯等重大国际赛事上获得金牌的运动员。”
在朝鲜男足在2010世界杯上以7比0输给葡萄牙后，队员们据说在平壤接受了一个长达6小时的批评会。 FRANCISCO LEONG/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES
If they don’t do well, are they punished?
如果他们表现不佳，会受到惩罚吗？
Rumors abound that athletes who fail to win in international competitions are exiled to coal mines or gulags, but there is little evidence of that.
有传言称，在国际比赛中失利的运动员会被流放到煤矿或劳改营，但几乎没有证据可以证明这一点。
Even after teams underperform, their players reappear at subsequent international competitions, said Udo Merkel, a senior lecturer at the University of Brighton, where he specializes in sports sociology. “So I don’t believe some of the stories that they are locked up in jail,” Mr. Merkel said, “because half a year later when they play the next qualifying match, you see the same names and players.”
布赖顿大学(University of Brighton)研究体育社会学的高级讲师乌杜·默克尔(Udo Merkel)表示，运动员即使表现不佳，还是会在之后的国际比赛中亮相。“所以，我不相信他们被关进监狱的故事，”默克尔说，“因为半年后，在下一场资格赛中，你还会看到那些运动员和他们的名字。”
In 2010, for example, the North Korean men’s soccer team lost 7-0 to Portugal at the World Cup in South Africa — a game that was reportedly broadcast live in Pyongyang. According to Mr. An, the goalkeeper who allowed those seven goals is still on the team. There were reports, however, that the team was subjected to a public criticism session in Pyongyang that lasted six hours.
例如，2010年，朝鲜男子足球队在南非世界杯上以7-0输给了葡萄牙，据报道，平壤直播了这场比赛。据安英学称，被打进7个球的那名守门员仍在球队中。不过，有报道称，该球队在平壤接受了长达6个小时的公开批评。
上周，韩朝滑雪运动员在朝鲜马息岭滑雪场进行联合训练。 YONHAP, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
How can North Korea afford a sports program?
朝鲜怎么负担得起体育项目的开支呢？
Soon after Mr. Kim took over leadership of the country nearly six years ago, he “really began to put money and political energy and time into developing an internationally competitive athletic prowess,” said Katharine H.S. Moon, a professor of political science at Wellesley College.
韦尔斯利学院(Wellesley College)的政治学教授凯瑟琳·H·S·穆恩(Katharine H.S. Moon)表示，近六年前，金正恩掌权后不久，他“真的开始把金钱以及政治精力和时间投入到培养具有国际竞争力的运动技能上了”。
According to an analysis of North Korea’s national budget announcements by Curtis Melvin, a senior fellow in the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Mr. Kim has invested steadily in sports, giving it about 6 percent of the country’s budget last year.
根据约翰·霍普金斯大学国际问题高级研究学院(Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies)美韩研究所(U.S.-Korea Institute)高级研究员柯蒂斯·梅尔文(Curtis Melvin)对朝鲜国家预算报告进行的分析，金正恩一直在体育方面进行稳定投资，去年的国家预算约有6%用于体育。
Since 2012, North Korea has built a new rink for ice and roller skating, soccer academies and a horseback riding club. It also renovated a large stadium in Pyongyang with volleyball, table tennis and basketball courts (the American basketball player Dennis Rodman famously crooned “Happy Birthday” to Mr. Kim in that stadium during a 2014 visit).
自2012年以来，朝鲜修建了一个新的滑冰与旱冰场馆、多个足球学院和一个马术俱乐部。它还翻修了平壤的一个大型体育场馆，内有排球场、乒乓球场和篮球场（美国篮球运动员丹尼斯·罗德曼[Dennis Rodman]在2014年访问朝鲜期间，在该体育场内向金正恩献唱《生日快乐歌》）。
Jean H. Lee, a former Associated Press bureau chief in Pyongyang and now a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, said that when she visited the new skating rink in 2012, it was “state of the art and perfectly maintained.” She said she saw Canadian and European-made ice resurfacers as well as high-end figure and hockey skates, suggesting that the regime had figured out how to skirt sanctions on luxury goods.
前美联社(Associated Press)平壤分社社长、现华盛顿伍德罗·威尔逊中心(Woodrow Wilson Center)全球研究员吉恩·H·李(Jean H. Lee)表示，2012年她参观那个新溜冰场时，发现它“非常先进，维护得很好”。她表示，她看到了加拿大和欧洲制造的冰面修整器，以及高档花样滑冰鞋和冰球鞋，这表明，朝鲜政府找到了绕开制裁、购买奢侈品的途径。
Mr. Kim also built the Masikryong Ski Resort, where some South Korean athletes practiced with their North Korean counterparts last week.
金正恩还修建了马息岭滑雪度假村，一些韩国运动员上周在那里与朝鲜运动员一起训练。
How much do the athletes get to see of the countries they visit?
运动员在他们到访的国家能看到多少？
江陵奥运村外的朝鲜国旗。 JAE C. HONG/ASSOCIATED PRESS
When the North Korean figure skating pair of Mr. Ryom and Ms. Kim trained over the summer in Montreal with the French Canadian coach Bruno Marcotte, they were taken shopping by Mr. Marcotte’s wife, Meagan Duhamel, a champion figure skater.
当朝鲜花样滑冰双人组合廉太钰和金柱希夏季在蒙特利尔跟着法裔加拿大教练布鲁诺·马科特(Bruno Marcotte)训练时，马科特的妻子——花样滑冰冠军梅根·迪阿梅尔(Meagan Duhamel)曾带他们去购物。
The 12 North Korean women’s ice hockey players who have been added to the roster of the South Korean team are probably getting glimpses of the comparative wealth of their South Korean teammates.
加入韩国队的12名朝鲜女子冰球运动员，也许会瞥见她们的韩国队友有着相对多的财富。
Caroline Park, 28, a Canadian-born team member, said that when she and her teammates practiced with the North Koreans late last month, they ate together every day. Ms. Park said she noticed the North Koreans did not have cellphones.
现年28岁、出生于加拿大的队员卡洛琳·朴(Caroline Park)称，当她和队友在上个月月底与朝鲜队员训练时，她们每天都在一起吃饭。帕克说她注意到朝鲜队员们没有手机。
And even further afield, Han Kwang-song, a player for the North Korean national soccer team, is currently on loan to a professional team in Perugia, Italy. There, he is also getting a taste of social media: He has a private Instagram account, @han.k.s.32.
再远一些，还有现被租借至意大利佩鲁贾队的朝鲜国家足球队队员韩光宋(Han Kwang-song)。在意大利，他也尝到了一丝社交媒体的滋味：他有一个Instagram私密账户@han.k.s.32。
Have any North Korean athletes ever defected?
曾经有朝鲜运动员叛逃吗？
No North Korean athletes have defected during the Olympics, although one defected in 1991 during a world judo championship in Spain. Ms. Hwangbo, the hockey player, defected to South Korea through China with her family in 1997.
没有朝鲜运动员在奥运期间叛逃，不过在1991年的西班牙世界柔道锦标赛中有一人叛逃。1997年，冰球运动员黄宝英与家人一起经中国叛逃至韩国。
The athletes are carefully screened before being allowed to participate in international events. Even if they wanted to defect, they will be closely watched by North Korean minders. In Pyeongchang, South Korean security forces will also be watching, as neither side will want the publicity of a defection undercutting the message of unity between the two Koreas. Even the women’s ice hockey players are not staying in the same dorm as their South Korean teammates.
运动员要经过仔细筛选才会被允许参加国际赛事。即使他们想要叛逃，也会被朝鲜的陪同人员紧密盯梢。在平昌，韩国安保部队也会警戒，因为双方都不希望出现叛逃的报道，削弱两国联合的要旨。尽管朝鲜女子冰球运动员并不会与她们的韩国队友住同一间宿舍。
What is more, said Benjamin Young, a Ph.D. candidate at George Washington University who has written about the North Korean athletic program, the athletes “have families in the North, and they are the most loyal and treated very well by the regime.”
曾就朝鲜运动员计划写过文章的乔治·华盛顿大学(George Washington University)博士候选人本杰明·杨(Benjamin Young)说，除此之外，运动员们“还有家人在朝鲜，他们是最忠实于这个政权、获得良好待遇的人。”
作者：Motoko Rich
Su-hyun Lee自韩国首尔、Jere Longman自纽约对本文有报道贡献。
翻译：纽约时报中文网
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