韓總理候選人因對日言論放棄提名

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.

韓國總統朴槿惠(Park Geun-hye)將不得不在17個月裏找到第5位總理提名候選人，原因是此前最後一個被她選中的文昌克(Moon Chang-keuk)由於發表了有關日本的爭議言論而在週二放棄了提名人資格。

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.

文昌克是一位曾擔任過記者的學者，沒有直接的從政經歷。6月10日，在4月份韓國“世越號(Sewol)”（此前稱“歲月號”，譯者注）海難引發的政壇地震中，他被朴槿惠提名爲總理候選人。

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.

由於一系列不當言論，文昌克正面臨越來越大的壓力。他曾稱日本對朝鮮半島的佔領是“上帝的安排”，並曾暗示東京方面不需要爲二戰期間迫使韓國婦女做慰安婦的事道歉。

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總統辦公室的確認，他的退出將讓朴槿惠在用人方面面臨更猛烈的批評，對其識人不明的批評可以一直追溯到她就任總統之前的幾周。當時，包括第一任總理人選在內，她的多項提名都曾迫於壓力而被撤銷。

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.

他的退出還可能增加人們對韓國媒體的擔憂——媒體對政治人物和政界候選人的譴責已經過度。今年4月，時任韓國總理鄭烘原(Chung Hong-won)在處理世越號悲劇（那次悲劇導致304人喪生）事件中的表現遭媒體口誅筆伐，之後他承諾辭職。接着，朴槿惠提出的第一個接替鄭烘原的人選也放棄了提名人資格，原因是其離開韓國大法院不久後的豐厚收入而引發的激烈爭議。

Ms Park's popularity has fallen dramatically since the Sewol disaster, despite an attempt to boost public confidence by replacing nearly half her cabinet.

自世越號海難之後，儘管朴槿惠曾試圖通過撤換將近一半的內閣成員提升公衆信心，她的人氣還是出現了急劇下滑。

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日蓋洛普(Gallup)開展的一次調查顯示，43%的迴應者認可朴槿惠的政績，而48%的迴應者則表示失望。這與4月初兩者分別佔61%和28%的比例形成了鮮明對比。