- Tham gia
- 28/9/2018
- Bài viết
- 1.262
1. BASIC LISTENING
FORBIDDEN LOVE
In 1971, he was a Vietnamese student who had just met the love of his life. She was a North Korean worker who knew she was forbidden to love him back.
It took 31 years before Pham Ngoc Canh, the Vietnamese student, and Ri Yong Hui, the North Korean woman, were finally married. They wed in 2002, after North Korea took the unusual step of permitting one of its citizens to marry a foreigner.
Now she is 70 years old and he is 69. They live in an apartment in the city of Hanoi, in Vietnam. Today, Vietnam is one of Asia’s fastest growing economies, but when the couple met the country was struggling. It was at war with the United States and divided in two. So the North Vietnamese government sent 200 students, including Canh, to North Korea to gain the skills the country would need to rebuild.
In North Korea, Canh saw Ri working in a laboratory. Canh said, “I thought to myself, ‘I must marry that girl.’
Ri’s friends had told her about the Vietnamese student who was training at the factory. “As soon as I saw him, I knew it was him,” said Ri. “He looked so gorgeous (beautiful and attractive).”
She added, “Until then, when I had seen so-called handsome guys I hadn’t felt anything, but when he opened the door, my heart just melted.”
The courtship
But romantic relationships with foreigners are strictly forbidden in North Korea. They were also forbidden in Vietnam at the time.
However, Ri and Canh exchanged letters. In time, she agreed to let him visit her at home. He had to be careful. He knew another Vietnamese man had been beaten when he had been found with a North Korean woman.
So Cahn dressed in North Korean clothes, took a three-hour bus ride and walked two kilometers to reach Ri’s home. Canh said, “I went to her house secretly, just like a guerrilla.”
He repeated the trip every month until 1973, when he returned to Vietnam. He was the son of a high-ranking party official, and he was expected to have a bright future with the state. But he refused to join the Communist Party.
“I just couldn’t agree with a socialism that stops people from loving each other,” Canh said.
In 1978, Canh asked to return to North Korea with a group of Vietnamese engineers. He arranged to meet Ri, and even wrote a letter asking the North Korean leadership for permission to marry her.
But Ri said the visit broke her heart. She did not believe her government would agree to his proposal, and she was afraid the two would never meet again.
So Canh did not send her the letter. Instead, he asked Ri to wait for him.
Ri and Canh stopped writing.
“My mother was crying while caring for me,” said Ri. “I think she knew that I was lovesick.”
Years passed. Finally, in 1992, Ri sent Canh a letter. She told him that she still loved him.
The marriage
But the two still could not meet, let alone marry. Then, in the late 1990s, North Korea faced a deadly famine. By now, the Vietnamese government was connected to the West, and it refused to send aid.
But Canh was so concerned for Ri and others that he raised donations of rice to send to North Korea. When North Korean officials learned of Canh’s act of kindness, they agreed he could marry Ri – but only if Ri kept her North Korean citizenship.
In 2002, the couple finally married in the Vietnamese embassy in Pyongyang. “In the end, love beat socialism,” said Canh.
Canh and Ri are hoping the upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi will help end hostilities between their countries.
“If you’re a North Korean, you want to see this resolved. But politics is complicated,” Ri said. “When people first heard Kim Jong Un decided to meet Trump, they expected reunification to happen soon. But that’s hard to realize in just one or two days. I hope things work out well.”
I'm Kelly Jean Kelly. And I'm Bryan Lynn.
2. ADVANCED LISTENING
OBAMA IN HANOI'S OLD QUARTER
Like a growing number of American tourists, President Obama seems to be enjoying himself in Vietnam. He snacked on noodles in Hanoi's Old Quarter last night but admits he did not hazard a dash (đụng xe) across the busy streets buzzing (ầm ầm) with motorbikes. Obama's not the first American president to visit Vietnam. But he is the first to have come of age (thời điểm chin muồi) after the war ended. He thanked an older generation of leaders, including Arizona Senator John McCain, who was a POW (tù binh chiến tranh = prisoner of war ), and Secretary of State John Kerry, who also served, for paving the way to more normal diplomatic relations.
BARACK OBAMA: Because our veterans showed us the way, because warriors had the courage to pursue peace, our peoples are now closer than ever before.
Obama hopes to strengthen those ties with a trans-Pacific trade deal, which remains controversial back home. The deal is designed to boost the U.S. profile in Asia and provide a counterweight to China's growing military and economic might.
OBAMA: Vietnam will be less dependent on any one trading partner and enjoy broader ties with more partners, including the United States.
The trade deal requires Vietnam to adopt labor and environmental reforms.
OBAMA: It is my view that upholding these rights is not a threat to stability, but actually reinforces stability and is the foundation of progress.
Obama acknowledged reform won't happen overnight. But he pledged the U.S. will continue to be a partner to Vietnam. He suggests that's a hopeful example to other parts of the world - that even the most intractable (dai dẳng, triền mien) conflicts can give way to a brighter, more cooperative future.
Scott Horsley
Composed & Edited by Le Quoc An
FORBIDDEN LOVE
In 1971, he was a Vietnamese student who had just met the love of his life. She was a North Korean worker who knew she was forbidden to love him back.
It took 31 years before Pham Ngoc Canh, the Vietnamese student, and Ri Yong Hui, the North Korean woman, were finally married. They wed in 2002, after North Korea took the unusual step of permitting one of its citizens to marry a foreigner.
Now she is 70 years old and he is 69. They live in an apartment in the city of Hanoi, in Vietnam. Today, Vietnam is one of Asia’s fastest growing economies, but when the couple met the country was struggling. It was at war with the United States and divided in two. So the North Vietnamese government sent 200 students, including Canh, to North Korea to gain the skills the country would need to rebuild.
In North Korea, Canh saw Ri working in a laboratory. Canh said, “I thought to myself, ‘I must marry that girl.’
Ri’s friends had told her about the Vietnamese student who was training at the factory. “As soon as I saw him, I knew it was him,” said Ri. “He looked so gorgeous (beautiful and attractive).”
She added, “Until then, when I had seen so-called handsome guys I hadn’t felt anything, but when he opened the door, my heart just melted.”
The courtship
But romantic relationships with foreigners are strictly forbidden in North Korea. They were also forbidden in Vietnam at the time.
However, Ri and Canh exchanged letters. In time, she agreed to let him visit her at home. He had to be careful. He knew another Vietnamese man had been beaten when he had been found with a North Korean woman.
So Cahn dressed in North Korean clothes, took a three-hour bus ride and walked two kilometers to reach Ri’s home. Canh said, “I went to her house secretly, just like a guerrilla.”
He repeated the trip every month until 1973, when he returned to Vietnam. He was the son of a high-ranking party official, and he was expected to have a bright future with the state. But he refused to join the Communist Party.
“I just couldn’t agree with a socialism that stops people from loving each other,” Canh said.
In 1978, Canh asked to return to North Korea with a group of Vietnamese engineers. He arranged to meet Ri, and even wrote a letter asking the North Korean leadership for permission to marry her.
But Ri said the visit broke her heart. She did not believe her government would agree to his proposal, and she was afraid the two would never meet again.
So Canh did not send her the letter. Instead, he asked Ri to wait for him.
Ri and Canh stopped writing.
“My mother was crying while caring for me,” said Ri. “I think she knew that I was lovesick.”
Years passed. Finally, in 1992, Ri sent Canh a letter. She told him that she still loved him.
The marriage
But the two still could not meet, let alone marry. Then, in the late 1990s, North Korea faced a deadly famine. By now, the Vietnamese government was connected to the West, and it refused to send aid.
But Canh was so concerned for Ri and others that he raised donations of rice to send to North Korea. When North Korean officials learned of Canh’s act of kindness, they agreed he could marry Ri – but only if Ri kept her North Korean citizenship.
In 2002, the couple finally married in the Vietnamese embassy in Pyongyang. “In the end, love beat socialism,” said Canh.
Canh and Ri are hoping the upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi will help end hostilities between their countries.
“If you’re a North Korean, you want to see this resolved. But politics is complicated,” Ri said. “When people first heard Kim Jong Un decided to meet Trump, they expected reunification to happen soon. But that’s hard to realize in just one or two days. I hope things work out well.”
I'm Kelly Jean Kelly. And I'm Bryan Lynn.
2. ADVANCED LISTENING
OBAMA IN HANOI'S OLD QUARTER
Like a growing number of American tourists, President Obama seems to be enjoying himself in Vietnam. He snacked on noodles in Hanoi's Old Quarter last night but admits he did not hazard a dash (đụng xe) across the busy streets buzzing (ầm ầm) with motorbikes. Obama's not the first American president to visit Vietnam. But he is the first to have come of age (thời điểm chin muồi) after the war ended. He thanked an older generation of leaders, including Arizona Senator John McCain, who was a POW (tù binh chiến tranh = prisoner of war ), and Secretary of State John Kerry, who also served, for paving the way to more normal diplomatic relations.
BARACK OBAMA: Because our veterans showed us the way, because warriors had the courage to pursue peace, our peoples are now closer than ever before.
Obama hopes to strengthen those ties with a trans-Pacific trade deal, which remains controversial back home. The deal is designed to boost the U.S. profile in Asia and provide a counterweight to China's growing military and economic might.
OBAMA: Vietnam will be less dependent on any one trading partner and enjoy broader ties with more partners, including the United States.
The trade deal requires Vietnam to adopt labor and environmental reforms.
OBAMA: It is my view that upholding these rights is not a threat to stability, but actually reinforces stability and is the foundation of progress.
Obama acknowledged reform won't happen overnight. But he pledged the U.S. will continue to be a partner to Vietnam. He suggests that's a hopeful example to other parts of the world - that even the most intractable (dai dẳng, triền mien) conflicts can give way to a brighter, more cooperative future.
Scott Horsley
Composed & Edited by Le Quoc An
