Gift horse

PARK GEUN-HYE’s presidency, soon entering its fifth and final year, may well be remembered for its apologies. The first was a tearful televised address in 2014 to atone for her government’s botched response to a ferry accident in which over 300 were killed. On October 25th Ms Park apologised again, this time for sharing advance drafts of dozens of speeches with a confidante, Choi Soon-sil, who has no government position.

A day earlier JTBC, a local cable-television network, said it had retrieved presidential files and e-mails from a computer discarded by Ms Choi. Ms Park said that she had sought her friend’s opinion only early on in her presidency, before her staff had hit their stride, but the media have been portraying Ms Choi as the eminence grise of her administration, pulling strings behind the scenes.