Disrupted by drones

It’s time to calm down, check defense preparedness

Three small, crashed drones presumably sent by North Korea have touched off a noisy but inconclusive controversy in the South. Tracing back the course of debate over recently found unmanned aerial vehicles, however, reveals big holes in the nation’s defense posture and in the mentality of people who have shaped it.

When the first drone was found about two weeks ago, the military played down the

rudimentary

, rather crude reconnaissance drone, although it had photos of Cheong Wa Dae taken right above the presidential office. It said some private citizens might have flown the small aircraft, apparently to avoid responsibility for letting a

dubious

object fly over the Blue House.

Then came the second and third one, both equally elementary drones, causing the domestic media outlets, especially conservative newspapers, to noisily

lament

about the loose air defense system and ringing alarm bells about

impending

North Korean drone attacks. Now the military leaders are busy working out countermeasures, vowing to acquire low-altitude surveillance technology from Israel and Germany.

True, Pyongyang has recently begun to brag about its drone operations and threatened to hit Seoul with weaponized versions, to which the South Korean military turned a deaf ear.

As we see them, however, the alleged North Korean drones’ spying ability was clearly limited with its photos dimmer than those provided by Google Earth, and not equipped with real-time transmission functions, meaning none of those photos could have reached Pyongyang. These small, triangular drones might technically carry a chemical or biological weapon but never a nuclear bomb as detailed by the North’s propaganda machine.

What has turned the military’s response from intentional negligence to a noisy fuss was mainly some media outlets’

exaggerate

d spread of fear.

President Park Geun-hye fanned such concerns Monday. Citing various security threats from North Korea such as nuclear and missile tests and artillery exercises in the West Sea, President Park said many South Koreans are concerned about North Korea’s drones. It was the commander-in-chief herself who amplified public unrest by lifting crude drones from the North to the levels of nuclear and missile threats. Park also exaggerated the situation, saying the ``three” drones seem to have conducted full-range reconnaissance.

Yes, the government cannot overemphasize the importance of airtight defense, but what makes people more restless than a couple of North Korean drones is the rapidly changing behavior of their military leaders, apparently for no plausible reasons. It seems as if the top brass were watching the face of chief executive or public sentiment more intently than North Korea’s moves.

President Park and her national security team should realize not a few Koreans are linking their belated and exaggerated response to the drone discovery to upcoming local elections.

Forgotten amid the ongoing fuss are the real, existing threats from the North’s nuclear programs and long-range artillery, which cannot be compared with low-grade drones _ and the need for two Koreas to reopen dialogue to fundamentally solve all these threats.

This is The Korea Times editorial for Wednesday, April 9, 2014.

※ 다음에 나오는 문제들은 본 기사에 나오는 중요한 어휘들로 구성된 토익, 토플, 텝스 기출 및 예상 문제입니다.

※ Choose the one word or phrase that best keeps the meaning of the highlighted part or fill in the blank with a suitable one.

1. I have only a

knowledge of chemistry.

① basic

② human

③ complex

④ fluids

2. John was

about going with me to the dance.

① doubtful

② confident

③ enthusiastic

④ pleased

3. Some critics have praised James Michener's epic novels for their facts but

deplored

their characterizations.

① emulated

② ridiculed

③ complimented

④ lamented

4. They know nothing about the

death of the lady.

① imminent

② inevitable

③ miserable

④ avoidable

5. American journalists often

overstate

a situation to make the news more stimulating.

① exaggerate

② inspire

③ animate

④ misinterpret

[해설 및 정답]

1. [번역] 나는 화학에 대해

기본적인

지식만을 자기고 있을 뿐이다.

[정답] ①

2. [번역] John은 나와 함께 댄스파티에 가는 데 대해

미심쩍어

했다.

[어휘] dubious ① 의심스러운(doubtful); 모호한, 애매한(ambiguous, vague) ② 미심쩍은(questionable) ③ 의심하는(skeptical, skeptic), 망설이는(hesitating) ② 자신하는 ③ 열심인, 열성적인 ④ 기쁜, 만족한

3. [번역] 일부 비평가들은 사실들에 대해서는 J. Michener의 서사소설을 칭찬해 왔으나 그 소설의 인물창작을

애통해했다

.

[어휘] deplore 한탄하다, 애통해하다(lament, mourn, sorrow, grieve, moan) deplorable 통탄스러운, 한탄할만한(lamentable, mournful, sorrowful, grievous, moanful) ① 필적하다; 모방하다 ② 비웃다, 조롱하다 ③ 칭찬하다

[정답] ④

4. [번역] 그들은 그 숙녀의

임박한

죽음에 대해서는 아는 것이 전혀 없다.

[어휘] impending (위에) 걸려있는(overhanging); 임박한, 절박한(imminent, threatening, forthcoming, about to break out) ② 불가피한(unavoidable) ③ 비참한 ④ 피할 수 있는

5. [번역] 미국의 기자들은 종종 뉴스거리를 보다 더 자극적인 것으로 삼기 위해 상항을

과장한다

[어휘] overstate 허풍을 떨다, 과장하다(exaggerate) ② 고무하다; 주입하다; 영감을 주다 ③ 활기를 불어 넣다 ④ 오해하다; 오역하다