South Korean President Park Geun-hye will have to find a fifth nominee for prime minister in just 17 months, after her latest pick withdrew from contention on Tuesday over controversial remarks about Japan, writes the FT's Simon Mundy in Seoul.
韩国总统朴槿惠(Park Geun-hye)将不得不在17个月里找到第5位总理提名候选人，原因是此前最后一个被她选中的文昌克(Moon Chang-keuk)由于发表了有关日本的争议言论而在周二放弃了提名人资格。Moon Chang-keuk, a journalist-turned-academic with no direct political experience, was nominated to the premiership by Ms Park on June 10, during a period of upheaval in government sparked by April's Sewol ferry disaster.
文昌克是一位曾担任过记者的学者，没有直接的从政经历。6月10日，在4月份韩国“世越号(Sewol)”（此前称“岁月号”，译者注）海难引发的政坛地震中，他被朴槿惠提名为总理候选人。
Mr Moon had been under growing pressure over remarks in which he called Japan's occupation of Korea "God's will", and suggested that Tokyo did not need to apologise for the forcing of Korean women into sexual servitude during the Second World War.
由于一系列不当言论，文昌克正面临越来越大的压力。他曾称日本对朝鲜半岛的占领是“上帝的安排”，并曾暗示东京方面不需要为二战期间迫使韩国妇女做慰安妇的事道歉。
Mr Moon's withdrawal, confirmed by the president's office, will add to the criticism of Ms Park for failing to vet her personnel picks properly – complaints that date to the weeks before her inauguration, when several choices including her first prime minister-elect were forced to step down.
文昌克的退出得到了总统办公室的确认，他的退出将让朴槿惠在用人方面面临更猛烈的批评，对其识人不明的批评可以一直追溯到她就任总统之前的几周。当时，包括第一任总理人选在内，她的多项提名都曾迫于压力而被撤销。It may also bolster concerns that South Korean media are piling excessive condemnation on politicians and political appointees. Chung Hong-won, prime minister, promised to resign in April after receiving heavy media criticism over his handling of the Sewol tragedy, in which 304 people died. Ms Park's first choice to replace him then withdrew amid controversy over his lucrative earnings soon after leaving the supreme court.
他的退出还可能增加人们对韩国媒体的担忧——媒体对政治人物和政界候选人的谴责已经过度。今年4月，时任韩国总理郑烘原(Chung Hong-won)在处理世越号悲剧（那次悲剧导致304人丧生）事件中的表现遭媒体口诛笔伐，之后他承诺辞职。接着，朴槿惠提出的第一个接替郑烘原的人选也放弃了提名人资格，原因是其离开韩国大法院不久后的丰厚收入而引发的激烈争议。Ms Park's popularity has fallen dramatically since the Sewol disaster, despite an attempt to boost public confidence by replacing nearly half her cabinet.
自世越号海难之后，尽管朴槿惠曾试图通过撤换将近一半的内阁成员提升公众信心，她的人气还是出现了急剧下滑。A Gallup poll on June 20 found that 43 per cent of respondents approved of the president's performance, while 48 per cent disapproved. This compares with 61 per cent and 28 per cent, respectively, at the start of April.
6月20日盖洛普(Gallup)开展的一次调查显示，43%的回应者认可朴槿惠的政绩，而48%的回应者则表示失望。这与4月初两者分别占61%和28%的比例形成了鲜明对比。