If there is one characteristic that defines Lee Jae-myung, South Korea’s new president, it’s that he is a survivor.

如果要用一个特质来定义韩国新任总统李在明，那就是他堪称“政坛不死鸟”。

He has survived criminal charges, a near-fatal stabbing attack and the martial law enacted by his fiercest enemy, former President Yoon Suk Yeol. Now he is taking on what may be his toughest test yet. He must lead a deeply divided nation through daunting challenges, both at home and abroad.

他经受住了刑事指控，逃过了几乎致命的持刀刺杀，更是在他最凶狠的劲敌、前总统尹锡悦颁布的戒严令下全身而退。现在，他正在接受可能是他从政生涯最艰巨的考验。他必须带领一个严重分裂的国家，应对国内外的严峻挑战。

Mr. Lee, who won South Korea’s presidential election after his opponent conceded early Wednesday, takes office as one of the most powerful presidents that South Korea has elected in recent decades. Much of South Korea’s political power is concentrated in the presidency, and Mr. Lee will also wield considerable control over the National Assembly, where his Democratic Party holds a large majority of seats. ​

在对手周三早间承认败选后，李在明赢得韩国总统选举，成为韩国近几十年来选出的权力最大的总统之一。韩国的大部分政治权力集中在总统手中，而李在明还将对国会拥有相当大的控制权，他所在的共同民主党在国会拥有多数席位。

But long is the list of problems that Mr. Lee faces.

但是李在明面临的问题也有很多。

​The political turmoil set off by Mr. Yoon’s short-lived declaration of martial law and his subsequent impeachment and removal​ has exposed a country deeply fractured between the left and right, between generations and between genders. South Korea is ​facing ​mounting pressure from its sole military ally, the United States, even as the nuclear threat from North Korea grows. President Trump has not only slapped South Korea’s export-driven economy with heavy tariffs but also demanded that it pay more to keep American troops on its soil.

尹锡悦短暂颁布了戒严令，随后遭到弹劾和罢免，由此引发的政治动荡暴露出这个国家在左右阵营、代际和性别之间存在深刻对立。在朝鲜核威胁升级之际，美国这个唯一军事盟友施加的压力与日俱增。特朗普总统不仅以高额关税打击韩国的出口导向型经济，还要求韩国承担更多美国驻军费用。

​Mr. Lee warned that the second Trump administration was bringing “the law of the jungle” into international relations. But Mr. Lee, 61, who rose to become a charismatic leader of South Korea’s biggest political party after working in a sweatshop in his teens, said he would also rise to this challenge, with “pragmatic diplomacy centered on the national interest.”

现年61岁的李在明充满人格魅力，十几岁时曾在一家血汗工厂工作，后来成为韩国最大政党的领袖，他警告，特朗普的第二个任期正在将“丛林法则”带入国际关系。但他也表示，会以“以国家利益为核心的务实外交”迎接这一挑战。

“I will crawl between his legs if necessary, if that’s what I have to do for my people,” Mr. Lee said this week about Mr. Trump. “But I am not a pushover, either. South Korea also has quite a few cards to play in give-and-take negotiations.”

“若为国民所需，我会从他的两腿间钻过去，”李在明本周谈到特朗普时说。“但我也非任人拿捏之辈。在针锋相对的谈判中，韩国也有不少牌可打。”

​For Washington, Mr. Lee could represent a sharp departure from Mr. Yoon, who antagonized China and North Korea and aligned his country more firmly with the United States in the strategic competition between Washington and Beijing. Mr. Yoon also won plaudits from Washington for leaving behind his country’s historical grievances to improve ties with Japan, Korea’s former colonial master.

对华盛顿来说，李在明可能代表着与尹锡悦截然不同的立场。尹锡悦曾与中国和朝鲜对抗，并在华盛顿与北京的战略竞争中与美国更坚定地站在一起。尹锡悦还因搁置历史恩怨，改善与韩国前殖民宗主国日本的关系赢得了华盛顿的赞誉。

Mr. Lee​ and other leaders of his Democratic Party ​are not as enthusiastic about warming up to Japan, which they accused of failing to come clean on the brutalities it inflicted during its colonial rule. Mr. Lee has said he will also seek to mend ties with North Korea and China, South Korea’s largest trading partner, while maintaining a strong military alliance with the United States.

李在明和他所在的共同民主党其他领导人对改善与日本的关系并不那么热衷，他们指责日本未彻底清算殖民统治暴行。李在明表示，他还将寻求修复与朝鲜，以及韩国最大贸易伙伴中国之间的的关系，同时与美国保持有力的军事联盟。

​Such a stance could set off alarms in Washington. U.S. officials have been urging South Korea to increase trilateral cooperation with the United States and Japan to contain North Korea and China. Even before Mr. Lee won the election, a warning came out from Washington.

这样的立场可能会引起华盛顿的警觉。美国官员一直敦促韩国加强与美国和日本的三边合作，以遏制朝鲜和中国。甚至在李在明赢得选举之前，华盛顿就发出了警告。

“We know that many countries are tempted by the idea of seeking both economic cooperation with China and defense cooperation with the United States,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Saturday. But “economic dependence on China,” he warned, “only deepens their malign influence and complicates our defense decision space during times of tension.”

美国国防部长皮特·海格塞斯周六表示：“我们知道，许多国家都想同时寻求与中国的经济合作和与美国的防务合作。”但是，“对中国的经济依赖”，他警告道，“只会加深它们的有害影响，并使我们在紧张时期的国防决策空间复杂化。”

Mr. Lee has spurned his conservative enemies’ accusation that he was “pro-China” and “anti-U.S.” by repeatedly stressing the importance of the alliance with Washington and trilateral cooperation with the United States and Japan for regional security.

李在明驳斥了他的保守派敌人对他“亲中”和“反美”的指责，他反复强调美韩同盟以及美日韩三边合作对地区安全的重要性。

“But that doesn’t mean that we have to make enemies of other nations,” he said.

“但这并不意味着我们必须与其他国家为敌，”他说。

在周二的出口民调预测李在明的共同民主党获胜后，民主党成员在首尔庆祝。

South Korea’s political turmoil began when Mr. Yoon declared martial law in December to try to remove Mr. Lee and other “anti-state forces” in the National Assembly, who he said had repeatedly used their majority power to obstruct his policies. Mr. Yoon’s brazen move outraged South Koreans, who swarmed the streets. Mr. Yoon was impeached by the Assembly and in April was officially removed from office by the Constitutional Court, opening the way for Tuesday’s election.

韩国的政治动荡始于去年12月，时任总统尹锡悦宣布戒严令，试图赶走国民议会中的李在明和其他“反国家势力”。尹锡悦说，这些人多次利用多数权力阻挠他的政策。尹锡悦的无耻之举激怒了韩国民众，他们涌上街头举行抗议。尹锡悦被国会弹劾，今年4月被宪法法院正式免职，为周二的选举铺平了道路。

During his short-lived military rule, Mr. Yoon had planned to arrest Mr. Lee, according to prosecutors. But Mr. Lee was the biggest political beneficiary of the​ dramatic collapse of Mr. Yoon​’s misjudged martial law, as​ many South Koreans saw him as the only politician with enough political resources to lead the country.

检方称，在短暂的军事统治期间，尹锡悦曾计划逮捕李在明。但尹锡悦在误判下发出的戒严令戏剧性地崩溃了，李在明成了该事件最大的政治受益者，许多韩国人认为他是唯一拥有足够政治资源来领导韩国的政治人物。

“People are so shocked by the martial law and felt such a threat to their democracy that punishing those responsible was the dominating theme in the election,” said Park Sung-min, the chief executive of Min Consulting, a Seoul-based political advisory company. “All the potential misgivings people might have about​ Lee Jae-myung’s foreign and economic ​policies and his legal trouble became secondary.”

“人们对戒严令感到非常震惊，觉得民主制度受到了极大的威胁，因此追责成了选举的主题，”总部位于首尔的政治咨询公司Min Consulting的首席执行官朴成民（音）说。“人们对李在明的外交、经济政策以及他的法律纠纷可能存在的顾虑都变成了次要问题。”

Mr. Lee enters office with legal uncertainty hanging over his head. He has been tried on several charges, including allegations of bribery and election-law violations, and there is debate over whether proceedings should continue or be postponed until after his five-year term. His conservative critics have accused him of using ​the election as a shield against his legal trouble.​ Mr. Lee insists that the criminal charges against him are groundless and politically motivated.

李在明上任之际仍然面临着法律上的不确定性。他已经因几项指控而受审，包括贿赂和违反选举法的指控，关于诉讼应该继续，还是推迟到他的五年任期结束后，目前存在争论。保守派批评者指责他以选举为挡箭牌，逃避法律问题。李在明坚称，对他的刑事指控毫无根据，而且是出于政治动机。

​Widely differing views on Mr. Lee’s legal trouble are emblematic of the political polarization in South Korea, which has deepened in recent years. No matter who won the election, a large portion of the population would not have accepted the result. Mr. Lee vowed to ease the problem by building “national unity.”

对总统涉案态度的两极分化正是韩国近年来政治极化的缩影。无论谁赢得选举，都会有很大一部分民众不接受结果。李在明誓言要通过建立“国家团结”来缓解这个问题。

He has said he will not seek political revenge, but the right-wing opposition has been skeptical, citing some of Mr. Lee’s own words. He has vowed to “ferret out” and “punish” those who collaborated with Mr. Yoon in his declaration of martial law.

他表示不搞政治清算，但右翼反对派引用李在明自己的话来对此表示怀疑——李在明曾誓言“揪出”并“惩罚”那些在尹锡悦宣布戒严令时与总统合作的人。

去年12月，时任总统尹锡悦短暂宣布戒严后，首尔国会外的抗议民众。

​Nearly all of Mr. Lee’s predecessors tried to strengthen their political grip by investigating the presidents who came before them in the name of “liquidating the past wrong,” a common phrase in South Korean politics. It has created a vicious cycle of political revenge. Of the nine presidents who have held power in the country since 1980, six have faced stiff political retribution: Two were expelled from office through impeachment, and four were convicted of criminal charges and imprisoned after they left office. Another former president killed himself while he was under criminal investigation.

李在明的几乎所有前任都曾试图以“清算错误”的名义调查前任总统，以加强自己的政治控制。“清算错误”成了韩国政治中的常用词。这造成了政治报复的恶性循环。自1980年以来，在该国执政的九位总统中，有六位面临严厉的政治报复：两位因弹劾而被免职，四位因刑事指控被定罪，并在离任后入狱。另一位前总统在接受刑事调查期间自杀身亡。

“It will be a tough balancing work for Lee Jae-myung: On one hand, he must punish those involved in insurrection during the martial law, and, on the other hand, he must avoid looking like he is indulging in political revenge,” said Ahn Byong-jin, a professor of political science at Kyung Hee University in Seoul. “He probably is taking office in a more difficult time than any other South Korean leader ​has faced in recent years.”

“这对李在明来说将是一项艰难的平衡工作：一方面，他必须惩罚那些在戒严期间参与叛乱的人；另一方面，他又必须避免让人觉得他在进行政治报复，”首尔庆熙大学政治学教授安秉镇（音）说。“他上任时所面临的局势可能比近年来任何一位韩国领导人都更加艰难。”

Eventually, Mr. Lee will be ​judged by his performance in revising South Korea’s economy​, analysts said. South Koreans cited ​fixing the economic slump as the most urgent task for the new leader.

分析人士称，评判李在明的最终依据是他在调整韩国经济方面的表现。韩国民众认为，解决经济衰退是新领导人最紧迫的任务。

“The election was about punishing ​the martial law,” said Shin Yul, a political scientist at Myongji University in Seoul. “But what the people most want​ is stability and a better economy.”

“这次选举是为了惩罚戒严令，”首尔明知大学的政治学家申烈（音）说。“但人们最想要的是稳定和更好的经济。”